Toreador's Embrace

The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Toreador's Embrace Copyright  2004 J.J. Doulton ISBN: 1-55410-055-0 Cover art and design by Martine Jardin All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher. Published by eXtasy Books, a division of Zumaya Publications, 2004 Look for us online at: www.zumayapublications.com www.Extasybooks.com

Contents Part One — Magia Negra Chapter One — Escape Chapter Two — Libertad Chapter Three — El Mar Chapter Four — Magia Negra Part Two — Virgen Del Mar Chapter Five — Encierro Chapter Six — Ole! Chapter Seven— Revelaciones Chapter Eight — Amor Chapter Nine — Fantasma

Toreador's Embrace

Part One: Magia Negra

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J.J. Doulton

Chapter One: Escape

G

ina released the buckle on her seatbelt after take-off from LA International Airport. Ah! Freedom in Spain awaited her, at least for a few weeks, and she could already smell the salty breeze coming off the Mediterranean. A pang of anticipation exploded in the pit of her stomach as she saw ‘her’ peninsula before her inner eye, just to the south east of the Sierra Nevada, jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea like a green jewel in that otherwise barren, desert-like country. She released the handle on the seat and followed the backrest into a reclining position. The image vanished when she turned her attention to the passenger in the seat next to her. Until now, her mind had only registered that she was seated next to a man of African-American descent and her heart skipped a beat when she fixed her eyes on his face. The window seat to her left was occupied by the most breathtaking creature she’d seen in a long while. His perfectly symmetrical face promised a heat

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Toreador's Embrace and mystery that one would only expect to find in the heart of deep, dark and unexplored Africa. Her eyes wouldn’t obey her and lingered on his blue-black skin a fraction too long to count as a mere fleeting glance. He turned and introduced himself. “Moses Black.” The timbre of his voice, not unlike that of a purring, satisfied lion stretching out in the shade of the only tree in the desert sun, reverberated deep into her belly. His thick mop of black hair was neatly pulled back, bundling the reggae tassels into a short, tidy ponytail. “Gina Alvarez,” she smiled at him. He exposed two rows of perfectly-set, brilliant white teeth, and she couldn’t help thinking that this set of pearly whites would be perfect for Forbes Media’s latest advertising campaign. “Glad to make your acquaintance, Gina Alvarez.” He purred and held her gaze. Only then did Gina realize that she was still staring into his face, soaking up every detail the apparition-like figure offered her gaze. She lowered her eyes as she felt herself blush like a teenage girl. “Likewise.” For a moment, Gina couldn’t think of anything else to say. This was indeed unusual for her as she was used to fast thinking, quick-witted retorting and had quite a talent for turning almost every argument in the boardroom into her favour. But this was no boardroom and the Adonis next to her was no boardroom foe and she simply surrendered to his air of male dominance, accompanied by butterflies in her belly. Moses had turned his attention back to the

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J.J. Doulton disappearing world below them as their plane bumped its way into the thick cloud. Very soon, it emerged above the cloud cover to escape the gloomy early morning rain that had rolled in from the east over night. The towering pillars of cumulus nimbus in the distance promised more late summer storms. The sun suddenly streamed through the interior of the plane as they headed toward Miami. She could have taken the direct route from Los Angeles to Aldorra with the corporate jet but, instead, opted for a seat on the commercial airline. The sooner she could get away from the clutches of the Forbes claws, escape from their watching eyes, the better. Gina hadn’t slept very well during the night leading up to her departure; she never did. The excitement of spending a few weeks on her private hideaway always proved to be stronger than her need to sleep. She pulled the airline-supplied blanket over herself to keep the cold air from giving her a chill. Moses, she thought, even his name is mystical. Her nostrils picked up his aftershave and in her mind she reeled off all the aftershave fragrances she recognised, but this scent didn’t match any of those. The blinding light streaming through the windows caused her to close her eyes for a few moments and almost gratefully she leant her head against the backrest and bathed in the caressing warmth of the sunshine. In four and a half hours she was to land in Miami and after two hours waiting, another plane was to take her to Madrid where a smaller plane waited to bring her to her destination, Aldorra. She felt a smile on her face and let herself slide into her daydreaming

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Toreador's Embrace accompanied by Moses’ alluring scent. The butterflies in her belly had multiplied and she had to shift in her seat slightly to accommodate that rising, hot feeling between her thighs. Her flight companion didn’t offer any further attempts to engage in a lengthy conversation and she didn’t feel like small talk, either. The last few days had exhausted her and she welcomed the chance to slumber while waiting for the flight attendants to roll the inevitable food trolley down the isle. The alluring fragrance of Moses engulfed her and the mystique of it made it easy for her to drift off into her own world. It was a world she had created just for herself and not many were privileged to share it. In earlier years, she would have been much more forward and wouldn’t have left Moses to get away from her, she would have led the conversation and immediately commenced her seductive games with one single goal only—to satisfy her thirst for attention. But in recent times, she had withdrawn herself into her fantasies even further. Regretful at her diminishing daring exploits, she pulled the blanket up further and closed her eyes. The drone of the engines lulled her into a daydream, and her thoughts slid back to her initiation to an exclusive club when she was a few years younger. Moses’ alluring scent accompanied her there. It had taken place on her first flight alone to Spain. One of the flight attendants happened to be a friend who knew her well, and invited her to join the crew below-deck after the lights had dimmed. The thought of being about to become a member of the mile-high club with only a thin layer of steel between

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J.J. Doulton her and the earth several miles below had sent her libido through the roof. On that particular flight, a young athletic beau had taken the seat next to her and she found herself engaging in some titillating hankypanky before long. It didn’t take much persuading for him to sneak away and join the crew in their private party. She remembered that there was plenty of alcohol to go around. The lower deck of the plane was all one very small area. It made for a very tight squeeze, and some very heady memories. Most of the flight attendants were busy with one another. Her partner, Daniel—she still remembered his name after all this time—really knew how to turn her on. His hands teased and titillated her. His fingertips explored her mouth, slid along her lips and stroked them softly. They gently tickled the sensitive flesh inside and met with her tongue like a hungry lover. Still wet from her mouth, they glided along her neckline and stole under the collar of her blouse. With the palms hugging the softness of her shoulders, he brushed over them on their way to meet the quivering flesh of the breasts. Her chest heaved with a couple of deep breaths as she eased into his caress but he withdrew from under the fabric and sent his hands to explore the line of her back. With a strong touch, he slid them along her spine, causing shiver after shiver, until they came to rest on her buttocks. Forcefully he dug his fingers into her soft flesh, pressing her pubis against his hardness for a tantalising moment. He released her buttocks again and his palms drew an almost painful line up and forward over the bones of her

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Toreador's Embrace hips until they reached her fiery belly. He leaned over her, his lips met with hers and his tongue took over where his fingertips had left off. With one arm he held her tight around her back and crushed her tits against his chest, while he forced his other hand down inside her dress, stroking her bush, her groin, the outside of her thighs until she was beside herself with lust. When he let her breathe again, he cleared a space over two refreshment carts and spread a blanket from the stack nearby over them. He unbuttoned her dress and slipped it over her head, knelt in front of her and slowly pulled her panties down her legs, stroking every millimetre of skin on the way down, until they were around her ankles. One after the other he lifted her feet and took her shoes off, slipping her panties slowly over the heels. He lifted one leg to part her thighs and expose her to the watching crew. Still kneeling in front of her, he bowed his head and kissed her foot. His tongue slithered from toe to toe, sending delicious sensations through her, and she had to steady herself on the carts behind her so as not to collapse from the unbearable heat that assaulted her. He kissed her ankle, slid his lips along her calf, let his tongue slither around the inside and back of her knee. His mouth continued its journey along the inside of her thigh until he arrived at her groin. He firmly held her leg, and for all to witness, licked the entire length of her cunt from as far back as his tongue could reach to the very tip of her clitoris. The tip of his tongue slid inside her vagina to tease her, then returned to her clit and playfully circled. Her

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J.J. Doulton body shook from the sensation. Then he stepped back, his cock bulging in his trousers, and left her to stand by herself in the centre of the airline crew’s private party. He unbuttoned his shirt and let it fall to the ground, slowly opened his belt, unbuttoned the fly and stepped out of his trousers. He then put his thumbs inside the elastic of his jockey briefs and extended it far enough for his prick to emerge from the fabric. Gina could contain herself no longer and moved beside him to remove the last vestige of clothing from his well-muscled body. She ran her hands and lips across his rock-hard chest, nipping at the brown nubs of his nipples and traced the valleys between the muscles on his abs with her tongue. He groaned and pushed her back against the carts, spreading her legs wide. The engines howled tirelessly in the background, carrying them across the Atlantic Ocean. There were another four hours of darkness to go before they approached the coastline, and he took his time. His hands and tongue explored every inch of her body and sent shivers of pleasure up and down her spine. From out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the other crewmembers playing with each other while they feasted their eyes on the performance of Gina and her partner. Her friend watched Gina and Daniel as she was fucked from behind by her own sexy stud on the blankets next to her. Gina moaned and laid back on the carts, her tits so taut they stood like two volcanoes. She slowly parted her legs to present her hot, wet cunt to her personal attendant. His fingers parted her swollen lips and slowly his prick approached her vagina.

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Toreador's Embrace Like a lion stalking his pray, his prick circled around her cunt, probing, stroking and teasing her flesh. Her womb screamed for release from the urge his cruel game had caused. She gasped for air as the head of his cock squeezed past her tight entrance, but whimpered in distress when he withdrew his precious member. He’d only stolen some more of her lubrication and teased her now while he rubbed himself against her anus. She watched his face as he slid between the crack of her buttocks and slowly surfaced to grace her fleshy lips again. He met her gaze and held it fast while he tortured her with the slowness of his advance. His lips parted and his tongue slithered back and forth between them for her to see what she felt him do between her other lips. He growled and when he did, she knew he was about to liberate her from his torment. She savoured every sensational millimetre of the sliding feeling when he entered her and held still for as long as she could, but the urge to close her legs behind his buttocks and push him all the way inside her overflowing cunt nearly overtook her. He reached forward, put his hands on her tits and spread his fingers to grab as much of them as possible, then massaged them with increasing force while he pumped his prick into her cunt with rising ferocity. The bottles and glasses inside the carts under her rattled in the rhythm of their bodies. The other crew had drawn closer and begun to cheer them on with horny, whispering voices. Cum, cum, cum, faster and faster with each of her steward’s thrusts, until they were rewarded with her cries and his deep, but

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J.J. Doulton suppressed howl of flooding relief. The applause that followed made it official: full entry into the Mile High Club had been granted to her—at least that’s how she preferred to remember it. She was pulled out of her thoughts back to the present when Moses’ purring voice interrupted her musings. “Are you alright, Gina?” He asked her with a bemused look. “You’ve been moaning in your sleep, and I thought it better to wake you.” Gina realized then that her hand had slid between her thighs as she dreamt, and she righted herself with a quick move that no doubt confirmed to Moses his earlier guess. “Just looking forward to my vacation, Moses.” She had found her quick wit again and smiled back at the alluring black creature with her usual self-confidence. “He must be worth every minute,” he whispered. “Indeed,” she whispered back and closed the narrow gap between them as he turned toward her. The flight attendant made her way from seat to seat, serving breakfast, and for the time being Gina had to put on hold her plan to seduce her travelling companion and instead, put her seat in an upright position and pay attention to the food. Moses finished his coffee and caught the attention of the flight attendant who approached their seats. He quietly requested to make a phone call and the flight attendant directed him to the forward booth. It was another hour before they were to land in Miami and Gina was disappointed at Moses’ absence. She couldn’t go to sleep again, not after having been

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Toreador's Embrace aroused to such a degree. My book, she remembered and pulled it out of her briefcase. Ana’s Future. She'd picked it up at the airport to escape boredom during the long flight in case there was no better opportunity to pass the time. The introduction promised a story set in the future on some island that, because of its remoteness, had been spared the otherwise global destruction that followed in the decades after the turn of the millennium. She wasn’t sure why she picked it up in the first place, because futuristic fiction wasn’t her usual reading matter. But lately she had been concerned with her own future and its title together with the colourful cover persuaded her to purchase it. Let’s see. She turned to the first page while Moses was still occupied and had his back turned toward her. His shirt barely concealed his well-built torso and he seemed to be settling in for a lengthy conversation. Gina’s eyes focused on the letters and she began to read. The first characters that introduced themselves to her were Ana, whose story was being told, and Michael, her mate. Michael had almost completed constructing the frame over the vegetable bed closest to the fence and stood next to the water pipe that fed our plot of crops. His fineboned, nimble hands were always busy constructing things. The cloth of his robe clung to his sweaty skin, tracing the muscles on his back.

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J.J. Doulton “Could you please open the valve to the pipe, Michael, so I can water the tomato seedlings.” The handle was too hard for my weakening hands to turn as corrosion had taken its toll on the few metal parts in the valve. It needed replacing but parts were simply no longer available. “My mother’s stories keep haunting me, Michael. How could they let this planet go to waste this way?” “The planet does not care much about it, Ana. The only thing which is wasted is the greatest potential the human race ever had. Now that the fleas are off its back, the planet will regenerate a-new.” “What about the birds, Michael? The air is too heavy for our own lungs and the poor creatures were forced to fly in and through it. What’s the last bird you saw?” “I think it was a half-dead sparrow about twenty years ago.” “I would give anything to see a bird fly over me again but all I have left are a few images of starlings and pigeons from my childhood.” Boronia Island had been

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Toreador's Embrace fortunate in a way. Its remoteness had left it mostly untouched by the global destruction and we had not become subject to domination and slavery. The island had always been an opium growing place for as long as I could remember; for the government and the pharmaceutical industry, but now that the seeds of the wild crops proved viable again, after a few generations of propagating plants from the few crops that produced seed, opium poppies had become a common sight, easily grown and harvested. Gina’s eyes followed the text but after the first few paragraphs, her mind blocked out what she read and inevitably wandered back to another time, and images appeared again that she had tried in vain to banish for almost her entire life. She stared at the open book without turning another page. Her own mother’s words interrupted Ana and Michael’s story. “Your father wants you to marry a decent young man—one of our own. Love has no room in your life when it comes to this kind of fortune.” Her mother had referred to her being the heiress of Forbes Media, a company her father had built and the incident with a young Latino boy, an absolutely adorable and sexy stud whose advances she had reciprocated with obvious delight. The candidate her father had in mind

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J.J. Doulton was indeed a decent young man, one who left no doubt in anyone’s mind as to where his loyalties lied. He once proudly paraded his white-hooded uniform in front of her before he and her father went to attend a meeting one night. Gina was barely fourteen and had it not been for her obstinacy and disobedience, her father might have married her off into the Klan. Fleas, indeed. The kind that hid behind righteousness to justify the bloody killings of anyone other than blue-eyed origin. “My apologies for leaving your company for such a long time…business.” Moses grimaced in the matter-of-fact ‘couldn’t-help-it’ mien when he returned and Gina got up to let him pass. He slid past her just a fraction closer than would be usual and her nose once again filled with the faint perfume trace of his aftershave. His muscular arm almost accidentally brushed her nipples as he stepped over to his window seat. Again, she didn’t have the nerve to engage Moses in more than just the barest of polite niceties. Even a year ago, she wouldn't have been this reserved and would have tried to weave her seductive spells on him. Something about Moses just sent her into an even deeper corner than she’d already manoeuvred herself into. Instead, she buried herself in a book that promised to be nothing but a lecture on the human race’s destruction. Nevertheless, after a few passages she empathised with Ana. The intruding voice from the loudspeakers announced the approach to Miami and instructed all passengers to set their seats upright and fasten their

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Toreador's Embrace seatbelts. There was no cloud over the east coast and everything was clearly visible and recognisable as the plane sped toward the runway in the distance. Her ears blocked as the plane began its descent toward Miami. Touchdown. After docking at the gate, Gina got up and Moses stepped out into the aisle behind her. Gina bent down to collect her briefcase and her jacket, and straighten her dress before turning to Moses—but he wasn’t where she thought he should be after he had left his seat. She looked around the cabin, but there was no trace of him. She stopped the busy flight attendant and asked about his whereabouts without luck. Moses had simply vanished. Bewildered and disappointed, she headed toward the exit. How dare he? Her spoilt-rich-girl attitude bubbled to the surface. The first class lounge overlooked the runways and several gates through tinted and laminated, thick glass. There was no sound intruding into the pipedmusic atmosphere of the velvet seating arrangement and the waiters had turned their quiet murmuring of taking orders into an art form. Gina found herself replying just as quietly, “Coffee, please.” Two hours to kill—alone. She was used to it. She was the only child of media mogul J.W. Forbes. The fortress-mansion outside LA that stood as her home of sorts hadn’t been a very inviting environment to foster same-age friendships. She had brilliant interpersonal skills where it counted; on the boardroom floor. But relationships outside her

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J.J. Doulton professional life never flourished. Dear Daddy had made sure of that. Ana’s Future. She plucked her book from the briefcase and tried to remember where she left off. She turned a couple of pages until her eyes fell on a passage that she didn’t think she had read yet. “You must listen to what I am telling you, you must remember these stories and you must tell these stories to anyone who is listening. You must tell the truth behind our tragedy. You must find a way to tell others— everyone. Most will not want to know, they are unaware of what has been done to them—they choose to remain ignorant. But this must not go on. We lost because of our inability to see the truth.” I felt a great sense of dread at that very moment. I knew my mother was dying, but everyone was dying. It was normal, we were used to it. But that wasn’t it. How could I, isolated on this small island, tell the rest of the world the stories my mother was telling me? Travel was impossible. There were only very few small boats that belonged to the traders

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Toreador's Embrace who used them to travel from one place to the next with their goods, but only close to shore and never away from our island. “You see, Ana, Religion has always been the greatest and most effective crowd control employed by governments everywhere, beginning with the Romans; with two or three different religious doctrines fighting for supremacy and providing a steady flow of unrest everywhere, the attention of the people was well and truly taken up by meaningless squabbles and wars. Religion was the greatest lie there ever was because, as we know now, it was never needed in the first place. But without it, greed would not have flourished the way it did and in the end, religion and greed were only two different words for the same thing—absolute control. We are seeing the grand finale of what absolute control has to offer— annihilation” Absolute control. Staring into space through the thick, tinted glass, Gina repeated these words in her mind. Absolute control. Her father had absolute control over her life. Well—not quite. He never conquered her soul because she never loved him. He had always

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J.J. Doulton been a distant figure, not a father to her. She was able to love her mother, in her own way, but that love, also, was limited. Mother was never in control—not of her own life, not of her own affairs. In the end, his control over her killed her, although he had been dead for years before the accident that ended her mother’s alcoholic life. In one of Mercedes Alvarez’s drink-induced rages, Gina learned the truth behind her father’s cruelty. “If you had been a boy, everything would have been different. But you had to be a girl…your father wanted a son.” For a very long time, the numbness that instantly engulfed her when mother hurled those words at her kept her dazed for weeks, but also became the foundation for the protective wall she built around her that never let anyone come close to her—except Julio. She was eleven years old at the time. Her childhood, such as it was, had ended at that moment. Absolute control—ruling people's lives from the grave was absolute control and Gina had to find a way to escape her father’s clutches. He still controlled her life, although he died twenty-four years ago. She shuddered and for some reason knew that this year’s vacation would be different—she would find a way to take control of her own destiny. Gina returned to Ana and her future and read a few more pages of her book before the call for the passengers of the Madridbound flight came over the suitably muted loudspeaker system in the first class lounge. The sun still shone through the aeroplane windows as it took off around half past five in the evening from

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Toreador's Embrace Miami International Airport. Sunrise and sunset were always spectacular from the air and this sunset was no different. The curve of the planet clearly visible; the setting sun set it ablaze with the dazzling fire of her rays. After the star slipped behind the horizon, the thinning atmosphere glowed in hues from turquoise to indigo, gradually darkening to give way to a vast blackness where the stars were the only discernible objects. This time Gina was next to the window and the seat beside her was empty. Disappointment at Moses' disappearance still lingered and left her deflated. Without paying attention to her food, she ate her dinner, which was served when the last glimmer of light disappeared behind them as the Atlantic Ocean spread out below. The flight attendant filled her glass without having to be called. He seemed to pay extra attention to her and smiled with a sultry look from under his long, curved lashes. He reminded her of someone else she once met, but lately, the lure of the lower lobe, that small but ideal void in the plane’s lower level no longer held the same attraction as it once did. Gina felt tired and lowered the backrest. She attempted to read some more, but her eyes didn’t remain open long enough. She sat the book down on the empty seat beside her and pulled the blanket over her shoulder. The first class seats were comfortable enough to sleep and soon, Gina found herself drifting off. The ghosts of her past life thankfully stayed away, and to her surprise, her thoughts wandered back to the memory of another flight that her sultry flight

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J.J. Doulton attendant had so innocently brought back to life for her. *** That year’s nominee for the mile high club initiation sat in the seat next to hers—conveniently. Blonde, blue-eyed, with a Leonardo de Caprio smile and a physique to die for, he delighted in the games under the blanket, and it wasn’t difficult to persuade him to follow her to the back of the first class cabin where the hatch to the lower level was located. A bit of cash transferred its ownership, and the hatch was opened. There was always an array of drinks at the crew’s disposal in the plane’s belly and she helped herself to a small bottle of white wine. Rather than fuss with glasses, she poured the liquid directly into his mouth and then into her own. They made themselves comfortable on a store of blankets, and a quick glance around showed her that initiation rites were already under way for other new club prospects. Tucked away behind other piles of supplies, Gina and her beau discovered another like-minded couple about to increase the membership. They watched them a while—he had her pinned against the hard steel construction of the plane’s hull, her blouse was open and her breasts spilled out from the partial opening. Her skirt was up around her waist, and her panties dangled on one of her ankles. His hands propped her up by the buttocks while her legs wrapped around his

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Toreador's Embrace waist. They were too engrossed in their own pleasure to notice Gina and her companion. Gina felt her cunt burn as they watched. ‘Leo’ had obviously seen enough also and turned to her. Without further ceremony, he slid his hand between her thighs, past the elastic of her underwear and, with a swift move, pushed his fingers as far as possible inside her. She closed her legs tight and held him there, unbuttoning her dress with a feverish haste to pull it off her body. All that was left was her G-string. She did likewise with his shirt and then his trousers. She released his hand from her thighs’ grasp, slid her Gstring off and finished undressing him. His cock quivered with expectation and she couldn’t resist closing her lips over its head. She heard him breathe hard and fast as her hands ran up the inside of his thighs and found his balls. He grabbed her by her hair and gently fucked her mouth before he pulled her away from his cock. He glanced around, and she found herself carried by his muscular arms toward a stack of sturdy metal containers. The other two had finished their club initiation and were indulging in a cigarette and a beer while they watched Gina and her man. ’Leo’ lowered Gina face down over the steel boxes and, without hesitation, his hands spread her cunt. His cock slowly slid inside her tight and hot pussy. He leaned forward and fucked her; slow, deliberate, deep thrusts, grinding hard against her clit while he massaged her breasts and thumbed her nipples in the same rhythm. The engines howled at a constant pitch. Powerful and steady, they matched the force and

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J.J. Doulton stamina of the stud who serviced her from behind. The other couple watched them, the man stroking his own cock as he played with his partner’s cunt. ‘Leo’ took his hands away from Gina’s tits and trailed his fingers down toward her bush. She felt them push their way along either side of her clit. He never interrupted his rhythm, and the intense sensation on her clit combined with the deep and penetrating thrusts of his glistening cock caused her to arch her back and moan loudly. ‘Leo’ moved and she opened her eyes to find that he had swivelled her slightly to one side, suddenly facing in the direction of the other couple. Her eyes fell onto the other guy’s fiercely rocking backside, ramming his cock into the girl’s slippery cunt with a purpose none other than to satisfy a lust that rose from watching Gina and her novice. The sight fuelled her own carnality and as if ‘Leo’ read her mind, he turned her to lay on her side. She looked down and watched his cock thrust in and out of her wet cunt and felt herself swept away by the wonderful feeling. She saw that ‘Leo’ was watching too, and he moaned and increased the speed of his thrusts. She felt herself explode and screamed her furious pleasure into the noise of the engines as her hungry cunt sucked on his thrusting cock. He continued fucking her, slower now but still thrusting deeply. Her clit was tightly clenched between the tips of his fingers; his cock continued to pound her insides with a delicious rawness and before the sensations from her first climax had ebbed, she felt her arousal rise again. This time she held her

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Toreador's Embrace breath, not wanting to miss a single one of those sweet quivers. The heat rushed through her body with renewed fierceness and she came again. Her heart raced and for a moment, there was not enough air to breathe. He withdrew and held her against his chest for a moment, then she felt his cock seeking her anus with a slow but urging push. It surprised her a bit, but she relaxed and allowed him entry. The feel of his penis sliding inside her narrow space made her whimper with a sensation of pleasure so great it was akin to pain. He held still for her to adjust and then began his assault, imposing his own rhythm on her and drawing long and deliberate. Gina knew that the tightness of her orifice would greatly increase his sensations and surrendered to his steely arms and the beckoning of his agitated body. He fucked her ass and her legs spread wide to accommodate him while her arms held onto the edge of the steel crates for support. She was surprised again when she heard ‘Leo’ invite the other couple to join them. The man set to work sucking her breasts and the girl turned her attention to Gina’s clit. She ensured that her eyes took in every gorgeous detail and revelled in the sensations that seemed to be coming from everywhere—this was definitely the best mid-air fuck she’d ever experienced. The man’s mouth sucked her tits with an intense purpose and she watched him rub his own shank while he milked her; the girl fondled ‘Leo’s’ balls and back hole at the same time as she kept Gina’s clitoris artfully inflamed. Gina’s burning

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J.J. Doulton urge led her to slide her hand between the girl’s legs and caress her. Her arousal soared with the feel of the wet, hot cunt and the girl moaned with delight when Gina slid her fingers into her vagina. She increased the stimulation between ‘Leo’s’ legs, who treated Gina to the last few violent but short strokes that announced his eruption, and her vagina responded with the telltale quivers that grew into delicious spasms as his dam broke and spilled his semen into her back orifice at the same time. Gina heard herself cry in ecstasy and succumbed to a climax in unison with ‘Leo’s’ cum. His arms locked around her torso when he collapsed onto her and he breathed heavily and hotly into her ear. They remained in this position while they watched the other couple fuck next to them, after they had helped her and ‘Leo’ to their orgasms. ‘Leo’ gently bit into her neck as they, too, reached their climax and collapsed onto the stack of blankets. After a while, the four bodies cooled and slowly, Gina, ‘Leo’ and the strangers came back to reality and the roar of the jet engines filled their ears again. No one spoke as the satisfied smiles made words redundant. Gently, ‘Leo’ helped her from the trolley and collected her clothes to dress her before he dressed himself. With each garment he slipped over her skin he caressed her, and it was obvious to her that he had relished her body. Gina sighed with a slight twinge of sorrow that her mid-air conquest had to end. Exhausted she flopped into her seat after they had emerged from the lower lobe to join the other passengers again. She fell into a contented slumber on

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Toreador's Embrace ‘Leo’s shoulder while one of his hands found a place to rest on her breasts. *** “Excuse me, please.” A soft voice intruded into Gina’s dream and when she opened her eyes, she looked straight into the flight attendant’s sultry eyes. “Yes?” The lights were dimmed and the other passengers were asleep or at least tried to rest. “For reasons beyond our control, one of the other passengers requires the vacant seat next to yours. Do you have any objections if we seat the gentleman here?” The flight attendant employed the same murmuring voice as the waiters back in the Miami first class lounge did. “Of course not.” Hardly awake, Gina gathered her book and made sure that all of her belongings were on her side of the seating. No sooner had she straightened herself out, that the stranger took his new place. An elderly gentleman smiled at her and one look at his black robe revealed the clergyman inside it. Gina wondered about the ‘reasons beyond our control’ that caused the man of the cloth to be relocated in mid-flight—but she didn’t ask. The priest introduced himself with an annoyingly high-pitched, nasally voice as Father John and when she looked into his watery eyes beneath a few strands of straggly grey hair, an icy-cold shower ran through her spine and immediately she decided not to become too friendly.

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J.J. Doulton Although she knew they had never met, there was an eerie familiarity about him, something long-forgotten like from another time, another life, but unrecognisable. She felt uneasy and inwardly cursed the flight attendant for picking her vacant seat. Quickly she looked around the first class cabin, but there wasn’t another seat anywhere. Her palms sweated. The look from the stranger’s eyes still lay on her, probingly, too long for comfort and feeling the irritation rise like the bubbles in a boiling kettle, she faced him straight on and asked “Is something wrong?” “No, I’m sorry, my child,” was all he said and like a thief in the night, shrunk away into his seat immediately, lowering his eyes and immersing himself in his prayer book that he had clutched in his bony hands the entire time. She felt cheated by Moses’ absence. He should have been sitting here, instead, this ghostly ‘déja-vu’ cleric from another dimension intruded into her personal space. She ordered herself another drink and immersed herself in ‘Ana’s Future’ for a little longer. Ana’s mother was still recounting her life, telling her daughter what had led to their desperate situation. ”They filled television full of meaningless, feel-good rhetoric and pseudo-science programs that were designed to ill-inform people about how well their leaders looked after their interests, their

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Toreador's Embrace country’s interest and the earth’s interest. Of course it was all designed as a smoke screen to hide the damn truth about how bad things really were. The chemicals in health care products for example, they were all designed to shorten our life expectancy. No government in the world could afford to keep alive non-productive over-40 year olds. Humans were funnelled into a breeding cycle just like they had funnelled animal species into a breeding cycle for their purpose: strong and well muscled males for work and war fare and females for the purpose of breeding them. But there was one problem. Through selective breeding, they also began to live longer. And after forty years of age, a human body just wasn’t as subtle anymore and began to fail. They were obsolete, superfluous and a drain on the economy.” Drowsy from the ceaseless drone of the plane’s engines, the late-night drink, the eye’s rhythmic motion across the pages of her book, she slid the book into her briefcase, leaned back and pulled the airline blanket over her shoulders. She made herself as comfortable as she could on the reclining airplane

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J.J. Doulton seat. If my father had succeeded to marry me off, he’d have been in control of the breeding of my offspring, too. With an internal shudder, she was grateful that she had been stubborn and insubordinate enough to foil his plans. Taking satisfaction in this victory, she fell into a dreamless slumber. Gina didn’t wake until the first hues of daylight came creeping through the gaps on either side of the blinds that had been pulled during the night. She opened hers and gazed at the expanse of Atlantic ocean beneath them, sat up and ran her fingers through her loose platinum blonde shoulder length hair and stretched her limbs before she folded away the airline blanket. Her back felt tight and she fished for her shoes that she had discarded under her seat before she went to sleep. The clergyman next to her stirred too. She got up from her seat and climbed across his outstretched legs into the aisle. She arched her back and bent forward alternatively in an effort to relieve the tight feeling in her lumbar. She reached for her purse and made her way to the rest room to freshen up. Gina looked at herself in the mirror and to her dismay had to admit that she increasingly resembled her own mother. The way the faint lines on either side of her mouth defined her cheeks, the way her brows shaped the eye lids and framed her green eyes looking back at her, and the way her jaw line was defined, it all made her see her own mother’s reflection in the mirror. In contrast, she couldn’t remember her father’s face. She’d tried again and again during the past few years, but to her dismay—or perhaps relief—there were no

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Toreador's Embrace photos anywhere to be found of him. She remembered him as a faceless, huge man with an enormous girth, but, as a child, any adult had looked huge to her. There wasn’t even a photo of him anywhere to be found at the Forbes Corporation. There was a bust that was supposed to depict him, made from bronze, but it didn’t stir any familiar images up in her—she had simply wiped her father’s face from her cellular memory and nothing could restore it. Hurriedly she refreshed herself, touched up her make-up and returned to her seat. The sun had emerged from the eastern edge of the planet and flooded the world with her first rays. The voice of the flight attendant asked them to return their seats to the upright position and fasten their safety belts. The clergyman was already seated and patiently awaited the rest of the flight. Every year in summer, Gina Alvarez left Los Angeles, the boardrooms, meetings, executive decisions and corporate lifestyle behind to spend a couple of months in her family’s villa on the Costa Aldorra on Spain’s South East coast for her vacation and her heart beat faster as the thought filled her with anticipation. Here is my real life, she pondered. She had spent a great deal of time during her young years here as the daughter of the wealthy founder of one of the world’s largest and most successful advertising companies, Forbes Media. On this remote strip of Spanish coast, with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada as a backdrop, lingered her happiest memories. It was located just south of the only true desert in the whole of the

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J.J. Doulton European continent—the desert of Tabernas, where Peter O’Toole once played Lawrence of Arabia. Here, at least, I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have Julio. He is my only solid point of reference. It was on the peninsula that she first met Julio Mendez. Her father had bought the piece of real estate from Julio’s father when she was only a young child. She had felt at home immediately and in Julio, initially, found the brother she never had. Happily her and young Julio spent many days playing on the beach or in the extensive grounds of the villa. He was always there and she knew that nothing bad could ever happen to her as long as he was with her. A smile softly stretched her cheeks. The Mendez family owned vast stretches of land and bred some of the best bulls for the Corridas, Spain’s number one sport. The peninsula was a fertile enigma and was situated off one of the most barren areas in Andalucia—its name, Pene Verde de San Pedro, attested to its fruitfulness. It was a green jewel fed by a life-giving river, the Andrecco, that originated in the Sierra Nevada and emptied into the Mediterranean Sea at the peninsula’s very tip, creating a rich wetland delta. This river formed the boundary between the Mendez estate and the Forbes property. Once the entire peninsula had belonged to the Mendez dynasty but Julio’s father, Paolo Mendez, fell on hard times during a short-lived but acute recession in Spain’s economy and survived by selling the smaller piece of land on the other, more rugged side of the river. The mansion had been home to

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Toreador's Embrace Paolo’s parents until their deaths but had remained empty before Gina’s father bought it as the Forbes family’s summer residence. It was also Julio who introduced her to the sweet game that boys and girls played when they felt puberty approach. She remembered how one year, Julio’s willy was tiny and small with no pubic hair, and twelve months later, it had grown into a monster that rose from under a black, menacing looking bush when touched. It frightened her at first, but fast became the sole point of interest for that particular summer. She remembered how his voice had become deep and gravely and the memory of that time made her smile. In many ways, she and Julio had never grown up. Her smile widened as the memories of that time flooded her thoughts. She gave her virginity to this Spanish beau, out on the dilapidated landing that barely stood upright now. Every year she wondered whether it would still be there the next. The flesh along her cunt ached from the rush of blood her memories caused. She could feel her panties dampen at the thought of that sweetest of all moments in her life. They had been playing together on the beach all day. She had admired his ‘monster’ that kept rising out of the black bush as soon as she touched it. They swam out to the platform and, as he helped her onto the wooden construction, she slipped on the wet timber. Julio bent over her to see if she was all right—she was more than all right from that moment onward. The ‘non-smoking’ light came on with the accompanying sound of the electronic gong and she

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J.J. Doulton smiled ruefully at having been caught daydreaming again. She glimpsed a disapproving sideways glance from the clergyman next to her and realised that she had groaned under the delightful onslaught of sensations from her memories. Gina’s ears blocked and she yawned reflexively to clear them. The Iberian Peninsula came into view. The sky over Spain was cloudless, and a wave of anticipation rose in her breast as she spotted the Sierra Nevada in the distance. The majestic sight made her heart skip a beat. The coast to the east of Aldorra had become a refuge for her and her mother when Gina was only six years old. The smile vanished from her face when the dark thoughts flooded back into her consciousness. One day two strangers came to the house and told her mother and her about the accident. Her mother broke down and cried, and that sadness spilled over to her. At first it didn’t mean anything, but her mother later took to blaming her for her husband’s untimely demise. Gina had been made to feel that it was her fault, and this guilt plagued her for many years. Only much later did Gina realise that her mother’s perception of things weren’t exactly based on reality, but rather on her alcohol intake. A few years later her mother had sent her off to a boarding school so she could indulge her self-pity without intrusion. At that school Gina learned to keep to herself and not to show that she suffered under the loneliness that a loveless family had bestowed upon her. As the sole heiress to the advertising fortune, Gina

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Toreador's Embrace loved her powers over others but also felt cursed. She had been used and groomed to take over her father’s role from a very early age. Not only had he stolen her childhood but her freedom as well. One of the clauses in his will determined that she was not to benefit financially in any way from his fortune unless she played an active role in the running of the company. My darling Daddy—you died without ever knowing about Julio and me—that was one thing you couldn’t take away from me. It sickened her to know that he had wished for a son. She hated him for dying before she had the chance to argue with him, and for denying her the possibility to reason with him and make him change his mind about her female worth. For years, she had worked very hard to shed the tag of being J.W. Forbes’ daughter and assume a complete identity all her own, even going so far as to take her mother’s Spanish maiden name. She was now in full charge of Forbes Media, but it had come at a cost. Los Angeles was a very lonely place, especially at night. Millions of people filled every corner of the city, but not one soul came close to her. Gina Alvarez was very successful, very rich, and very lonely. Each year, the approach to Madrid airport made her stomach tingle and tighten with expectation. Today was no exception—a lump rose in her throat and her heart thumped against her rib cage. Freedom waited for her there. She and Julio would be the centre of the universe for a few weeks, playing like children one moment and indulging in some very adult games the next. Sure, there were many eligible,

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J.J. Doulton well-to-do suitors in Los Angeles, and one-night stands helped to pass the time, but there was no one like Julio. She was chained to Forbes Media, and Julio despised LA. He’d only visited her once and had hated every moment. Silently she triumphed that neither of her parents ever had the opportunity to put their obligatory stamp of approval—or otherwise—on her and Julio’s liaison. After her father died, her mother was too pre-occupied with her own sad life of alcohol abuse and prescription drug dependency for clinical depression to ever realize that both her and Julio had grown from childhood playmates to lovers. The boating accident in which her mother drowned was rather a blessing, as it saved both women from growing into a pathetic and patronising, defunct mother and daughter relationship. Yes, Mother, you too will never know. Ha! Through it all, I managed to have my own life despite your efforts. I hope you are happily unhappy wherever you are. A fresh, new late summer morning sun greeted this Thursday in August and scattered glittering jewels of sunlight across the Mediterranean Sea. They had just crossed over Portugal and now headed toward Madrid. The plane taxied along the runway and eventually stopped at its allocated gate shortly after seven-thirty in the morning. The covered gangways locked onto the hatches. She packed her book back into the briefcase and readied herself to disembark. As she walked toward the open door, she glanced back over her shoulder and met the gaze of the clergyman who for one moment forgot his guard, and

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Toreador's Embrace she caught him undressing her with cold and demonic eyes. She passed through immigration and changed over to the domestic terminal where she boarded a smaller jet for the short hop to Aldorra. As the small plane crossed over Spain’s deserts Gina enjoyed—as if for the first time—the vistas the Sierra Nevada provided. On approach, she scanned the mountain range for Mulhacén, the highest peak at 3.482m in the Iberian Peninsula. Julio had told her when she had called him a couple of days before her departure from L.A. that he would be mountain climbing around that area with Romano on Wednesday and Thursday. She had met Romano while the boys were still at university, on the occasions when Julio had invited him to the coast to stay for a few days. He had grown up on a neighbouring property, but decided to move to Madrid when life became too difficult for him in the rural environment—being openly gay wasn’t exactly the best way to gain acceptance in a small town in Spain. On El Semalqui airstrip, just outside Aldorra, a car was ready for her. The caretaker of the villa, Juan Sanches, also owned the local garage in San Pedro and he was paid well to have a car ready for her arrival. During the last two years, she’d spoiled herself with a baby-blue Mercedes 190E. This year she’d arranged for a white Audi Quattro. It was her just reward for sacrificing her life to Forbes Media. She arrived at her villa just before noon, relieved to finally be home. She had travelled for over twentyfour hours and she was tired. Juan and his wife Ria

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J.J. Doulton had ensured that the entire kitchen was stocked. After she freshened up, she poured herself a glass of champagne and sat on the veranda outside the lounge room. She wanted to be on the beach, but there was one more ritual to be endured. Every year, Juan would always show her around the grounds and point out things that either needed or had been repaired, while Ria would do likewise inside the villa. It had become a routine by which Gina’s vacation began every year. After her mother’s death when Gina was eighteen, Juan and Ria were hired by Forbes Media to maintain the extensive gardens and keep the house in order, as well as to look after her on her vacations. Prior to this arrangement, Paolo Mendez had organised for the upkeep of the mansion in their absence. Gina knew she could take care of herself, and the annual tour of the property wasn’t really necessary, but she didn’t want to hurt their feelings either by not accepting their demonstration of devotion. She had never considered Juan and Ria to be servants. Next to Julio, Juan and Ria are the only family I have left. She had made sure that they would want for nothing for the rest of their lives. She had been relaxing for no more than twenty minutes when Juan and Ria arrived, and kisses and hugs were plentiful. While Juan and Gina inspected the gardens, Ria prepared some food and she had it ready to be served on the veranda by the time they had completed their rounds. Gratefully, Gina let Ria fuss over her and take care of everything, including the dishes and the cleaning of Gina’s travel clothes. “I’ll bring them back next week, when we bring the

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Toreador's Embrace groceries.” Ria put the outfit in the laundry basket to take to the cleaners. They talked as they ate and caught up on each other's lives. By mid-afternoon Gina was by herself again. She stood on her very own piece of freedom and did what she had waited the entire year to do— she took off her blouse and wrap-around skirt, slipped out of her panties, climbed down the few rock steps and ran naked across the white sandy beach to be greeted by the gentle waves of the Mediterranean Sea. She let the water wash away the last traces of boardroom etiquette and corporate protocol and just floated on her back, arms and legs outstretched wide—alone with her universe. Sometimes dolphins visited this small cove, and several times in past years she was lucky enough to come face to face with these fantastic creatures. Gina mused over her sea and what it must have been like when it was formed. She had read somewhere that twelve million years ago Africa had bumped into Spain and cut the Mediterranean off from the Atlantic. It slowly dried up and left its salt behind. Six million years later, Africa decided to withdraw, and in the process created a breach between Gibraltar and Morocco. The largest waterfall the planet had ever known was created. For one hundred years, the Atlantic thundered over a one thousand meter drop and filled the Mediterranean once more, allowing the sea creatures, such as the dolphins, to re-enter. She could almost hear the roar of that mighty waterfall and felt a profound gratitude to Africa, for without it, her Spanish hideaway would not have

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J.J. Doulton existed. When the sun touched the water and turned it golden, she swam back to shore and returned to the mansion in her Andalucian paradise.

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Toreador's Embrace

Chapter Two: Libertad

“O

nly one thing is better than reaching the top after a dangerous rock climb, that’s to sink the cock into a woman who plays hard to get. Conquering a bitch in heat is akin to conquering a sheer cliff, a vertical wall of rock.” Julio listened to his childhood friend and climbing companion, the only voice for miles on this beautiful Wednesday in the Sierra Nevada. Up here, halfway between terra firma and oblivion, nobody could hear them, words didn’t matter. The danger of falling and the constant adrenalin rush solicited fantasies that would ordinarily remain buried. Julio shook his head. Where does he get this stuff from? he wondered and said “What have you been reading?” A devilish laugh sounded from below him “Just fantasizing…you don’t have to wait much longer for her.” Julio reached the next ledge and secured the rope so Romano could follow. His childhood friend had always known of the special bond between him and

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J.J. Doulton Gina. Every year she’d fly out from Los Angeles to spend time with him. Being teased by Romano was nothing new for Julio—on the contrary, he revelled in the exclusivity of being the centre of attention for one of the richest women in America. Inwardly he yearned for her and would jump at the opportunity to hold her in his arms forever, but outwardly, the image of a well-heeled, very eligible bachelor had paved many roads up the ladder of success for him. This was the halfway point of their climb and they rested on a ledge that was wide enough for them to stretch out, get comfortable, and unpacked their drinks. Although they neared the tree-line, the midsummer heat forced them to replace lost body fluid constantly. Julio took out the map and unfolded it to study their next move. A small pamphlet fell out and he quickly glanced at it, reading the tourist advertisement for Europe’s best climbing area, after the Alps. It said, those who find hiking not quite exciting enough may like to try rock climbing, which is hiking vertically upwards, mountaineering, which is hiking vertically upwards with snow, or caving, which is hiking vertically downwards (except for the return journey, which is hiking vertically upwards underground). “That’s not one of our advertising campaigns, maybe we should leave our credentials with them so they’d get the benefit of our expertise?” I.M.E. International was well known for flamboyant ad campaigns. That was why they had been the obvious choice for Forbes Media in their effort to gain a foothold on the European continent through a proposed merger. Julio was the youngest partner of

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Toreador's Embrace the successful Spanish company, but he had a talent for bringing in the lucrative contracts. He leaned back against the sun-warmed rock and closed his eyes for a while. Romano’s words from earlier echoed in his mind. Sink the cock into a woman. The visualisation of it, the feel of Gina’s tight flesh around his hard penis gave him a jolt in the groin. The sun beat down on the ledge and the dark clothing soaked it up. The heat intensified and the sensation caused his cock to swell. He would see her soon and that thought sent shivers through his spine. That platinum blonde, who had kept him mesmerised since childhood, flew in for another one of her annual bids at freedom. He had plenty of women, and the mothers of some of them, at his feet to pick and choose. He was successful and drove fast cars; two important requisites for Spanish men to be desirable. He even had the enviable good fortune to be the sole heir of the Ganaderia Magia Negra, his family’s fighting bull and Spanish horse stud. He had gone against the wishes of his father, Paolo Mendez, to become a ganadero and chose a career outside the family’s tradition. He knew that Eduardo Rodriguez, his father’s confidant, had things well in hand and knew his business well. Besides, the Mendez estate employed the best possible equine and bovine specialists in the country—Julio was not needed to run the day-to-day affairs of the hacienda— however, he kept a tight rope on the financial side to make sure his inheritance didn’t dwindle away unexpectedly. He had grown accustomed to life in Madrid and regarded the estate on the peninsula, Pene Verde De San Pedro, as his getaway, the

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J.J. Doulton weekend hacienda. He knew the difference between a mare and a heifer or a bull and a stallion and never confessed to any more knowledge of animal husbandry than that. It was the cause of his father's long and grave sorrow, and the gradual alienation between them had become inevitable—they remained on friendly terms but the relationship, sadly, was only a business liaison. There was no opportunity left to rectify the situation. His father was dead. Snap out of it, he pulled himself out of his morose thoughts. His life had never been better than it was right now and, like all other summers prior to this one, he looked forward to spending a few weeks of unrestrained passion with Gina. It wasn’t the first time that Romano had played this game with him but, unfortunately for him, Julio was not gay; Romano had to be satisfied with the next best thing, rubbing off while teasing Julio. “Imagine her lying there, her legs wide open, waiting for you, Julio. Imagine her tongue on you, around your hammer,” he tortured his climbing partner. Julio’s hand stole down to his groin. His cock, now hard, bulged the fabric of his climbing suit. He opened the belt, the press studs and parted the fly. His penis jumped out and throbbed with the horniness Julio had pumped into it. He heard Romano moan with the desire for Julio that he had to suppress. Julio knew that Romano respected him not being gay and wouldn’t touch him. He saw Romano’s hand firmly closed around his own cock and watched him slowly slide the skin up and down the shaft. Julio

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Toreador's Embrace never objected to the word game and caught Romano’s eye. “Her cunt is ready for you, Julio, she is wet and horny, but she wants you to suffer a little. She won’t let you poke her yet. You’ll have to earn her cunt. You’ll have to hold back a little, ease off, wait until she’ll let you pump her.” Julio knelt close to the edge and faced the empty space between the ledge and the rest of the world. Both of his hands were busy. One hand cradled his sac and played with the testes inside, the other titillated the head of his cock between thumb and forefinger, rubbed the foreskin back and forth and pulled it over the piss hole, stretched it until it almost hurt. His breathing was short and sharp and he heard Romano’s hoarse cry next to him as he emptied out into the chasm. A warm up-draft grabbed the fluid and dispersed it over several miles of territory. Julio closed his fingers tight around his precious prick and with a few forceful yanks followed suit. The deep muscles contracted and sucked the juice out of his testes and pumped it through his cock with a series of wild convulsions. In amazement he watched his semen disappear into the abyss—he felt as if he had just inseminated mother earth. With a grin on his face he fell back against the warm rock. “Do you think she appreciates it?” he asked Romano. “Who?” “Mother Earth—we just bonked Mother Earth.” “I never thought of it that way. She hasn’t thrown us off yet, so she must have liked it. Now I’m going to piss on her, too.” With that Romano got up and approached the ledge again. He had to wait for the

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J.J. Doulton muscles to relax completely before relieving himself. Julio joined him; another sudden up-draft grabbed the globules of piss and the men almost got showered with their own urine. “She didn’t like that. Bitch!” Romano muttered to himself. The men readied themselves for the assault on the summit and Julio lead the way. He knew this terrain well but each climb was a fresh experience. He looked down toward the coast and spotted the small peninsula where Gina was to wait for him. She would be on her way to L.A. International Airport now. He kept climbing. After an hour’s climb, he paused and waited for Romano to catch up. His mind wandered back to his early years on that peninsula. He was three years old when the villa was sold to J.W. Forbes and became the Forbes family’s summer holiday mansion. He remembered the first time he met Gina as if it were yesterday. She was the spoilt daughter of a rich American and he was the son and heir to his father’s fighting bull stud. Gina became his best friend and held a fascination for him that no other woman had ever managed to equal. My spoilt American blonde. He remembered her gaze on his nakedness while they played their special games during their summer holidays. When they were older she showed him what that forbidden spot between a girl’s legs was for and how much fun he could have there. After J.W. Forbes’ death in a tragic automobile accident in Mexico, Gina and her mother spent more than just the summer months on Pene Verde De San Pedro. Lucky

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Toreador's Embrace for me, I guess. During those years, Forbes media was run by a trustee until Gina came of age. Look who’s the tycoon now. Paolo Mendez saw it as his duty to console Mercedes Forbes in her time of mourning and the children were often left to their own devices. And we had more fun than anyone ever realised. He smiled. Throughout their adolescence, he never once felt the compulsion to kiss and tell. Just like with any other teenager, his exploits with girls were the main subject of youthful bragging—but not his liaison with Gina. That remained sacred to him—for no-one else to share—and he guarded their secret well. No one ever suspected. He was pleased with himself, and it wasn’t after Gina had turned eighteen and her mother had died that he confided in his father. But the old man never let on whether he approved or not and remained impassionate about Julio’s love interest. Suddenly, his grin gave way to a sadness that invaded his memories. His mother had died giving birth to his sister when he was only twelve months old. He didn’t remember his mother, but he remembered Maria. A year before J.M Forbes died, there was a fire at the Mendez mansion when Julio was six years old. Maria, his sister, was only four at the time. She had sustained bad injuries and was rushed into hospital. Julio was told a few days later that Maria had died as a consequence of her injuries. I hope you are well, wherever you are, Maria, my dearest little sister. The tragedies in both families, so close together in time, somehow cemented the bond between Gina and him for the rest of their lives. Julio could not imagine

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J.J. Doulton a life without his spoilt American blonde that lusted after him, and he would find his life unfulfilled without being able to satisfy his own urges in her. “You won’t have to wait too much longer, lover boy.” Julio was jolted out of his thoughts by Romano’s teasing. “Sometimes I wonder why fate decided that those tragedies should be so close together, Romano. It almost seems as if they followed one another with purpose,” he absent-mindedly mumbled to himself. Then he turned to his friend who had finally caught up with him and together they continued the climb. He loved this mountain range and looked out over the diverse landscape patterns below him. Every time he climbed a mountain, he marvelled at how the vegetation changed, from deciduous to coniferous leaves and very thorny, bushy vegetation as he moved into the highest regions. In areas such as those below him, there were extensive woods where two types of useful oak—the cork oak and the holm or ilex oak grew. Every nine years the cork oak's thick outer bark was stripped—most of it for export. Meanwhile, livestock grazed the pastures as autumn’s chill spread, pigs were turned out to gorge on the fallen acorns—a diet considered to produce the best ham of all—especially the pata negra from Cadiz Province around Mount Alcornoque, due west. The thought of the local delicacy from the black pigs made Julio’s mouth water. Unfortunately, their rations for climbing were limited to vacuum-packed freeze-dried hiker's food, as anything fresh would spoil quickly in

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Toreador's Embrace the midsummer heat. Up here it was not uncommon for them to come across an abundance of wildlife like the ibex or the chamois. He looked up as he heard a familiar cry and was rewarded with a close-up view of a magnificent golden eagle circling in the warm up-draft, eyeing them warily. Slowly, with Romano following behind, he climbed the sheer mountain wall. Traversing the overhang was slow, dangerous and time-consuming. The tree line had been left behind at around 1000 metres above sea level and a couple of hours ago, they had passed the last carob trees and juniper bushes that clung anxiously to their sparse foothold and begrudgingly gave way to high altitude mountain scrub. Then even that got left behind and, standing on top of the overhang composed of nothing but rock, made Julio acutely aware of how small and insignificant they were compared to the ancient, regal rock formations that were the Sierra Nevada. Once past the overhang, there was only one other dangerous passage. They had to climb up inside a chimney—so called because the only way up on this particular route was through a narrow, vertical cleft inside the rock. The up-draft caught in the mouth of the chimney surged upward with considerable pressure and on windy days, the crevice emitted a low and eerie howl. Julio peered into the dark hollow. This one didn’t have as many footholds as other chimneys did and one had to begin with the correct step or get stuck half way only to be forced to retreat and try again. Julio went first. “Your ass is as tight as ever,” he

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J.J. Doulton heard Romano tease him from below. He glanced back and saw Romano looking up with undisguised lust. “Concentrate on climbing for the moment. You can admire my ass again when we’re up top.” Romano’s admiration of his body had always been a welcome ego boost for Julio and their friendship was, in part, strengthened by Romano’s constant yearning for his body. Julio carefully counted out his steps. He could see the top of the chimney, and the light streaming through the passage showed the few footholds quite clearly. He carefully counted them, one by one, from top to bottom, to begin with the correct foot. Julio climbed inside the chimney. He couldn’t help but liken this cleft to the cunt between a woman’s legs. The picture of Gina with her legs invitingly open floated through his mind. He saw her fingers part the lips to expose the opening of her cunt, and…started when Romano called “Imagine the size cock you’d have to have if you wanted to fill this hole.” “Keep your mind on the job. Give me some slack here.” Julio reminded his climbing buddy disregarding the fact that his own mind had strayed. His mate’s remark echoed in his mind and as he climbed, he imagined himself to be inside the giant cunt of mother earth, wondering what sensations his presence caused her. “We’d be the equivalent of a couple of sperms.” Romano continued with a silly giggle in his voice, as if reading his mind. “Extra horny today, are we?” Julio laconically shouted. With one last push he was out of the tube.

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Toreador's Embrace He secured the line and himself, then aided Romano through the chimney. “Not long to go and we can camp for the night. There’s the summit.” Together they rolled up the ropes and headed toward the highest point of their climb. The short walk faced toward the gently sloping back of the mountain. A simple cross with an inscription adorned the lonely space. Although they did not head for Mulhacén peak, this one-day climb was no less dangerous and had claimed its fair share of lives in the past. There were some challenging rock faces in these ranges, particularly around the area of El Chorro, near Alora, Sierra de las Nieves, between Ronda and Malaga or Sierra Almijara, and sometimes he and Romano would spend a few days around Sierra Filambres and Sierra Maria in Almería, but for this climb they had chosen one of the lower peaks near Mulhacén. They rested at the cross and soaked up the last rays of the setting sun that streamed over the desert plains of southern Spain from the West. As the sun dipped nearly out of sight, they slowly made their way down the back slopes toward a hut, their camp for the night. There was enough firewood and they had plenty of food in their backpacks. A bottle of wine magically appeared out of Romano’s pack. It must have weighed a ton, no wonder he constantly lagged behind on the climb. Julio shook his head with a bemused chuckle. “Are you trying to get me legless so you can take advantage of me?” he grinned, trusting that Romano would not touch him without his consent. “It hasn’t worked in the past, why would it now?”

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J.J. Doulton Romano pouted. Julio found himself a little light-headed in this altitude. Maybe some food would help. It wasn’t exactly gourmet stuff, but as reconstituted food went, it wasn’t bad. In any case, he felt much better after he ate. It had been a long, hard day and the bunks looked very inviting. They clambered up the ladder loft, where the heat from the stove collected and made it very comfortable. Nights turned cold quickly in this altitude once the sun disappeared, even in summer. The wine had done its trick. Julio closed his eyes and was asleep within seconds. He didn’t know that Romano watched him sleep for some time in the dim light of the lantern. He didn’t feel Romano’s hand gently stroke a wayward strand of hair out of his face. He stirred and turned in his sleep. His arms reached out for Gina and wrapped around Romano’s body without waking. He didn’t see his friend’s eyes on him, nor did he know that Romano didn’t dare move for fear he would wake Julio and be denied this unconscious embrace. Behind his closed eyelids Gina’s body appeared in his arms and like a ripe fruit, she made his mouth water. He tightened his embrace around her and his pelvis moved, rhythmically, and when Gina opened her cunt to receive his push, he groaned “Gina.” In the heat of his dream, he’d bestowed a passionate embrace upon Romano. Gina called his name as she neared her peak “Julio!” He felt a hand shake his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked straight into Romano’s face, that betrayed his own lust, and realised he had been

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Toreador's Embrace dreaming and was near climax. With Romano’s lips near his ear he could hear him whisper, “Let me help you. I’m here—she’s not,” referring to the dream. “I’ve not been this horny in ages.” Julio confessed with a breaking voice. He released his engorged cock and stroked it as Romano watched. Then he leaned back onto the bunk and submitted to Romano who hesitated for a few seconds, visibly turned-on with the sudden swelling of unrestrained passion. Julio’s eyes closed and he felt Romano caress his nipples, licking and sucking them. Julio pushed everything else from his mind and immersed himself in his dream, willingly accepting his friend’s ministrations. Romano’s tongue wandered down to Julio’s belly, paused and explored the navel. Julio arched his back slightly and welcomed the touch. He felt a hand clamp tightly around his cock and greedy lips close over its tip. Julio moaned under the weight of soft, stroking pleasure. The strong hand tightly slid the mantle up and down his throbbing penis and he felt the muscles ready themselves for the exploding convulsions deep inside. He stretched out his arms and legs and lay prostrate as his cock pulsated in the air to Romano’s caress. The knowledge that it was a man who sucked his cock didn’t matter any longer and he gave in to the tongue that slowly and deliberately circled the piss hole at its tip, and to the teeth that grated gently along the shaft. Julio’s body claimed its own rhythm and strained under the pressure of Romano’s touch, and he felt his eyes fill with tears. Romano stretched the moment as far as he could, and each time Julio felt

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J.J. Doulton that he was just about to burst and the muscles inside prepared to pump his semen, the salacious torture eased off. Romano knew how to keep the tension just below the boil. “I wanted for this moment since I discovered I loved you and wanted you for myself.” Romano confessed. At that moment, Julio’s last barrier crumbled and his lust became directed solely toward Romano’s affections. Tears rolled from the corners of his eyes toward the temples and seeped into his hair. He wiped his face and propped himself up on his elbows because he wanted to see their bodies, two beautiful males whose affections for one another had brought them to the intimacy they had craved. Julio was able to admit to himself that he had always wanted to know what it felt like to be fucked by another man. Each of his friend’s hands clenched a cock and Julio’s eyes soaked up the visual sensations this moment held for him. He watched Romano kneel beside him and masturbate two cocks at the same time, in the same rhythm, and then felt his explosive convulsions. The muscles deep inside pumped his hot semen from his balls through his penis in rapid bursts, and the sensation spread throughout his body. He fought to keep his eyes open so he could watch Romano’s cock explode. Julio held his breath and bit on his lower lip as Romano collapsed onto him. The sticky liquid spill oozed out between their bellies, and Julio’s embrace belonged to Romano for this night. He pulled the blanket over their exhausted bodies—sleep came quickly and remained dreamless for the rest of the

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Toreador's Embrace night. Julio woke first. Gina is approaching Madrid, was he first thought before he even opened his eyes. Then he felt Romano’s body in his embrace and remembered their night. To his surprise, he wanted more of Romano. But time didn’t allow for it, he reasoned with himself. He grabbed Romano’s mop of hair and pulled his head off his chest. His friend blinked and looked up at him, probingly caressing him anew with his entire body. “Did I dream this or did we…?” Romano began but Julio interrupted. “Yes, you bastard—you had to have it your way.” The turmoil inside him spilled out with the halfhearted attempt at pushing blame for his weakness onto Romano, absolving himself from his own actions during the night. Romano smiled and Julio felt his friend's hands around his cock again. Its response was immediate. “Fuck my ass, Julio,” he heard his friend whisper with eyes so dark Julio thought he would drown in them. Their faces met and Julio knew that he wanted Romano to reciprocate. He rose to his knees and Romano turned around to offer his date to his pulsating piece. Romano handed him a small bottle of oil and Julio smeared his arsehole with a few drops. Then Romano grabbed his buttocks and spread them for Julio, who wondered whether it would feel the same as fucking a woman’s ass. He pumped into Romano with an unapologetically raw lust he had until this moment not known he possessed, and Romano cried out at the assault. Julio became his cock

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J.J. Doulton and obeyed a primeval urge that his friend had teased until it surfaced. He came, convulsions pumped a new load of semen through his penis. Julio stopped breathing and held onto Romano’s pelvis, holding still to let all the sensations sink deep into his memory. Quivers ran up and down his entire body. Romano turned around with his cock still throbbing and hard and ran his hands over Julio’s body, caressed his limp penis and fondled it back to life; then bent down and licked it clean, sucked it into his mouth and coaxed it back to life. Julio felt his fingers creep past his testes and fondle the flesh between the buttocks. He shook as his body obeyed Romano’s touches—he was ready. He turned and opened the gates for Romano’s assault on his rectum. He felt gentle hands that spread the oil around his date and his fingers that pried the buttocks apart. Romano’s piece pressed against his arsehole, but stopped as he bent over him and embraced him from behind, caressing his belly and nipples. Julio heard him whisper, “I know you’ve never been ass-fucked, you’re a virgin. I’m shaking all over and my heart beats so hard I think I’m going to die.” Slowly and gently, Romano pushed a finger past the taut muscle and rotated and massaged the tight flesh, coaxing it to give more and more, to stretch so it was capable of accommodating his cock. Julio was on his hands and knees and little by little, he relaxed and arched his back. His cock was hard and ready to burst; he didn’t dare touch it. Romano led his prick to Julio’s glistening hole again, and this time, with a

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Toreador's Embrace gentle but forceful push, it slid past the entrance and inside. He wanted to scream, but his throat was closed and he couldn’t breathe as he tried to understand this new and tumultuous sensation that lingered between pain and ecstasy, and his body burned. He felt Romano’s hard cock advance into his body, pushing and retreating repeatedly until the entire length was inside him. Romano paused and gently stroked him all over. His arms held him tightly and pulled Julio up until their bodies touched. He felt as one with Romano who kissed his neck and shoulders and whispered into his ear “I’m going to fuck you so good, Julio, you’ll never forget it.” His hands reached around Julio’s waist and ceased his cock. Slowly he slid the skin up and down the shank, and it had the desired effect. Julio’s arousal grew and with the rhythm of his hands, Romano moved inside his ass. His fingers clenched tighter and moved more quickly. He felt Romano’s thrusts and his body responded to them as he arched his back more and followed Romano’s guiding hands. He heard Romano cry his name and felt his own heart beat against his ribs with such intensity he thought it was going to burst through its cage. Romano’s hands let go of his penis and he steadied himself against the cabin wall. He wanted to experience the fucking cock inside him without distractions. “Fuck me hard, Romano.” His friend responded, and the raging force with which Romano fucked him from behind caused his body to shake violently, and his cock spurted burning cum. Romano clutched Julio’s hips to him and plunged deep, and Julio felt the hot semen of his lover

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J.J. Doulton pour into his body. They collapsed back onto the bunk, the silence broken only by their furious gasps for air. Julio closed his eyes and felt Romano’s caresses on his sweaty skin. Their heaving ribs slowly calmed and Julio’s heartbeat slowed to normal. This must be how Gina feels when I fuck her, he thought to himself. He returned Romano’s caresses and slid his tongue over his friend’s sweaty skin to taste his salt. Then he grabbed Romano around the back of the head, pulled him hard onto his chest and held him tightly. He felt a tinge of sadness, but wasn’t sure whether it was his own or Romano’s. Reluctantly, the men climbed down from the bunk loft in the cabin and after a short dip into the cleansing coldness of the mountain stream behind the hut, and a short breakfast, they headed off down the back slopes of the mountain. As they left the hut behind, a plane flew over them and Julio looked up. He followed it with his eyes until it disappeared in the direction of Aldorra. That’s Gina’s plane, he thought and felt his heart beat faster. A dull ache spread through his groin, his flesh sensed her and wanted her body. His steps quickened and all he could think of was Gina waiting for him at the Forbes villa on that green peninsula, but she had to wait just one more night. His schedule led him to Granada on business for the rest of Thursday. ***

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Toreador's Embrace Gina woke in a great deal of discomfort. She had been too careless and forgotten her sunscreen before her swim in the sea, and her crimson skin felt every fibre of the sheet under her. A glance at the alarm clock revealed three a.m. Friday morning and despite the breeze, the unrelenting heat made her miserable. She knew there was no way she was going to be able to go back to sleep feeling as she did. Pale moonlight marked her path to the bathroom, where she turned on a cool shower and stepped inside. The initial shock of the cold water on her skin made her jump, then she sighed in pleasure as the burning heat dissipated. Dripping wet, she returned to her bedroom; the breeze soothed her and she collapsed back on her bed. The curtains billowed in a welcome gust of salty night air and she closed her eyes. The air brushing over her skin dried the water far too quickly, but she had cooled down enough and managed to relax. Time trickled as slow as molasses, and she began to muse over her relationship with Julio. Every one of her summer vacations had always seemed unreal, somewhat removed from her real life. Although she led a double-life of sorts, while she was on her peninsula, nothing else mattered, she was here—totally—belonging only to him. This relationship was the only thing in her entire life that had not been hijacked by her parents and turned into something ugly. She so desperately clung to this one yearly rendezvous, and would have wasted away if Julio had abandoned her and not reciprocated her fantasies. He made her fantasies come to life and the thought of him looking at her,

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J.J. Doulton touching her, tasting and feeling her and, above all, making her the object of his own fantasies, invited the heat back under her skin. Arousal wet her cunt and she spread her legs to allow the soft Mediterranean breeze to cool her fleshy lips. I suppose this is love, is it? She asked herself. This was one word she had never heard anyone say to her—love—not even Julio. Many times he confessed to her the things he loved her doing to him but never that he loved her. Did her parents ever love her? After her discovery that her father had wished her to be a son she became convinced that love had no right to existence in her family. Love, she thought and tried to comprehend the emotions that would be evoked by those three little words I love you, but came up empty. She found herself unable to give what she had never received. Yet she harboured no self-pity, only bitterness at her father’s disappointment and her mother’s inability to fulfil her role. There was nothing tangible that connected her with either of them. No warmth, no emotional interaction—not even a smack on the bottom for being naughty. At least that would have shown that she meant something to them. Her mother drowned her guilt for not having born her husband a son in alcohol, and dear Daddy simply ignored her or treated her like he waited for her to turn into a boy. She had received more affection from Juan and Ria than her own kin, aside from Julio. He showered her with precious little nothings, sweet, tender utterings, and his hands’ gentle caresses that spoke louder than all the words together. How much longer would she

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Toreador's Embrace be able to come here to Andalucia only to leave again after a few weeks? It had become increasingly harder in recent years to return to L.A. and her executive existence. How much longer would Julio find the same attraction, year after year? She could not imagine a life without him, yet the last thing she wanted was to be a wife to him, or Julio to be a husband to her out of the fear of repeating history. Their lives were their own, neither of them made any demands on each other’s freedom. There was a mutual respect and a giving out of free will between them that had to be preserved as the prerequisite for their titillating and fiery liaison. “Julio,” she whispered as she felt herself drift off. “Gina.” She looked around. The soft grass under her bare feet tickled, and she smelled the green fragrance as the blades lightly crushed under her. She couldn’t see who called her and kept frolicking along the path through her meadow, the sweet fragrance of the meadow flowers intoxicating her. One more time she heard the voice call her. “Gina.” This time, she saw the figure. It was the same every time she dreamt this dream. Tall and silhouetted against the sun the man came closer. He looked familiar, like he always did, but remained a stranger. His voice sounded like deep, rolling thunder. He laughed. “Are you going to play with me?” Her voice was full of expectation. Gina had found someone to share her joys. She skipped ahead of him, after a butterfly that remained just out of her reach. She giggled and looked back. The tall man followed her and skipped

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J.J. Doulton also. His laughter rang in her ears. The breeze whispered in the nearby treetops and the birds flitted busily in and out of the foliage. She stopped and plucked a few wild flowers for a small posy and buried her nose in the blooms. The fragrance made her head spin and she closed her eyes for a moment. When her eyelids lifted again, dread crept into her conscience. The sun had disappeared and the sky turned black and threatening. The stranger loomed above her and his greedy fingers snatched her wrists, clamping one of his huge hands shut around them behind her back. His face was now clearly visible and Gina shrunk back in fear. Her father had a firm grip on her arms and cruelly laughed as he pushed her toward the burning cross that suddenly appeared in the now-scorched meadow. The crowd of white-hooded onlookers cheered as she was pushed into the centre of their circle. Only then did she notice that she stood in a pool of blood. She tried to get away but was held fast by the bony hands of her father. His face had taken on a menacing appearance. His cheeks were fallen-in and the cheekbones clearly outlined under the skin. There were stubbles on his chin and a moustache of very few grey hairs under his bulbous nose. There was no hair on his head—he was bald. So captured, she began to struggle and fight back. His laugh had taken on a demonic overtone and Gina woke with a scream in her bed on Pene Verde de San Pedro. These nightmares had invaded her sleep soon after the fatal accident. They almost always involved being

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Toreador's Embrace taken to this gathering of masked figures and forcing her to witness the goings on, those activities that she—had she been the son he so badly wanted— would have inherited in his name to carry on as he did. Leave me in peace! Gina screamed inwardly and got out of bed. She poured herself a cold drink in the bar downstairs and sat down. She spotted her book on the side table, absentmindedly grabbed it and opened it. She couldn’t remember what passage she last read— she had an annoying habit of not marking the page with a dog-ear or a bookmark. Anything to distract herself from the nightmare and calm herself. ‘Ana’s Future’ was as good an option as any other. It was a strange and frightening thought, that of one person controlling another. We didn’t control anything, not even the food we grew, we lived together side by side. That was the only way. “But whether it was drugs, religion or other forms of oppression, any one of those means of control rendered us unable to function properly because they caused severance from our God. The fine cord that secured us to All-That-Is was effectively cut. We could only talk to one another through artificial

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J.J. Doulton means. If one person was standing in front of another, personal exchange of words and visual signals were possible. But no communication on a deeper level was possible except, perhaps, between two people who were deeply in love and shared a closeness they wouldn’t share with others.” “Like Michael and me?” Max smiled “Like Michael and you.” Michael and I didn’t have to speak most of the time, our connection was complete. But we still had a voice and we liked using it when we could. The air was very heavy and hurt our throats, but that was the way it was. *** Gina woke on the lounge, sunlight streamed in through the windows and her book was on the floor, upside down. She felt weary, as she always did when her sleep had been interrupted by the recurring nightmare. She got up and looked out at the distant mountains where she knew Julio had been yesterday. Today he was coming to her. “Hurry, lover. Hurry to me,” she whispered to the distant peaks.

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Toreador's Embrace Gina could hardly wait for his arrival later this Friday morning. The emotions came rushing up from the depth of her heart. Julio, her lover, her best friend and playmate was on his way to her. She wondered whether he’d still be wearing the same aftershave, the one that made her dizzy when its perfume first invaded her senses. He had started wearing it when he first shaved and its scent forever connected her with all their summers on this peninsula all at once. Her mind played tricks on her, and her nose picked up the perfume. She closed her eyes and saw his freshly shaved teenage face as he visited her that day. Absentmindedly she prepared some fruit for breakfast, but couldn’t find the appetite to eat it all. Fleetingly Moses’ image appeared before her at the thought of aftershave. She still hadn’t figured out what fragrance it was. She picked on a few grapes and a couple of orange slices, then put the platter in the fridge for later and returned to the lounge with a glass of orange juice. Her mind took her back to that day when Julio held a bunch of flowers behind his back and begged a kiss first, before he relinquished the bouquet and her birthday present to her. They shared the same birth date. She had wrapped a diamond ear stud for him this birthday, and the very next day, they went into town to have his ear pierced. He still wore the stud to this day. She unwrapped her birthday present that he handed her with the flowers and plucked a delicate white-gold ankle chain from its satin box, from which dangled a little heart. He knelt in front of her and put it around her ankle. She never took it off for years,

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J.J. Doulton until it had become too fragile to wear. She had its clasp strengthened and made into a bracelet, and the small heart’s ring that had almost worn through replaced. There weren’t many pieces of jewellery in her collection that were not from Julio. He showered her with frivolous little gifts at every opportunity, mostly over dinners by candlelight. He was a romantic through and through, and between main course and dessert, he’d reach into his pocket and slide a small, inconspicuous-looking packet from his side of the table over to hers. But he wouldn’t let go of it until she promised him that she would pay him back later in the evening, in the privacy of her bedroom. She’d play hard to get, and coax him into begging and bartering before finally agreeing on all terms, including who would get to take off whose clothes. One Sunday, they were dining in one of the many bars that lined the beachside of Aldorra. The sun still tinged the horizon a dark purple and the warm summer evening wrapped them in a romantic blanket. The taste of the fish lingered on her taste buds and the wine was the perfect accompaniment to the dish. She watched Julio’s hand disappear inside the pocket of his trousers and reappear with one of those little presents. He pushed it between the candles that separated their dinner settings but kept his hand on it. “This is going to cost you.” He began the amusing negotiations. “What is it going to be this time? Last time I lost the blouse off my back.”

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Toreador's Embrace “It’s going to be more than just your blouse this time, Gina.” He looked into her eyes, pretending to be quite serious. “There isn’t much more to this dress than the blouse.” She whispered and moved her hand closer to his that held the present. “Every bit counts. We can begin with your shoes.” “I’m already barefoot.” She retorted and slipped out of her shoes quickly and triumphantly showed him her naked foot that she stretched out from under the table “See.” Unfortunately she didn’t see the waiter come around the corner and her negotiations nearly came to a premature end when the man collided with her leg. Luckily for everyone he had good reflexes and nothing in his hands spilled. “The price has just gone up. Being hazardous to unsuspecting waiters carries a heavy fine.” Julio’s supercilious grin was exaggerated by the candlelight and strengthened her resolve to win this one. “You drove me to it with your unreasonable demands. There are mitigating circumstances too, because you keep filling my glass.” She couldn’t keep her chest from letting her giggle escape. “I’ll have your knickers as well as your shoes, my dear.” He meant business. She knew he was winning because she hadn’t managed to win one of his items of clothing off his body yet, but the evening was still young and she had a trump card or two up her sleeve. “Not so fast. You haven’t even given me one reason to believe that what’s in the little box you so

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J.J. Doulton valiantly protect from me is worth letting you get to my knickers. So before you have the right to go any further, the rules dictate you have to give me an indication first.” “What rules? You just made this up because you know I’m winning.” He feigned protest. “I know I’m winning.” She grinned. “Give me a clue to what’s in here, and I’ll grant you the knickers.” She set the tip of her flawlessly manicured index fingernail onto the back of his hand that still cupped the little box, lightly scratched over his knuckles, and then teasingly wriggled between his fingers, probing. “I’m weakening, keep going.” He whispered. “Tell me when I get close. Is it silver?” “Cold.” He replied with a husky voice. “Is it gold?” Her bare foot slid along the inside of his calf and met with his knee under the table. “Warmer.” She stretched further under the table and her foot reached his thighs. “Platinum?” “Almost there.” His voice trembled. “I can’t reach any further unless I crawl under the table.” She told him under suppressed laughter. “You’ll have to do better than that. So far I can’t see one reason why I should let you have this.” He teased. “How about a kiss?” It was desperation stakes and she had to win at all cost. “That’s more like it.” He nodded approvingly. She moved the candle sticks aside and leant toward him and kissed him, tasting the wine on his lips, meeting his tongue, smelling his after-shave.

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Toreador's Embrace “Now you’ll definitely lose your knickers.” He confirmed when she sat back down “But you won a clue.” He took the little box back, hid it under the table and fiddled with it. He brought it back up with just a glint of something metallic through the slightly open lid. A piece of gold chain hung from the corner and showed several different colours of the precious metal. “Alright, I grant you my knickers…and my shoes,” she added. “Let me guess.” “Guesses cost.” He dangled the present in front of her. “Ok. What’s the cost for one guess?” she demanded. “Your knickers, immediately,” he replied while he filled their glasses again. “For that I get to open it immediately,” she gasped. “No you’re not. I have command of it and I call the shots.” By that time, her knickers had already soaked up quite a noticeable amount of moisture and their carryon had attracted the attention of other guests in the immediate vicinity of their table. She had ended up taking her knickers off in the ladies room and had brought them back to their table. He took the small wad of fabric out of her hand and stroked his cheek with it, soaking up its aroma and fingering through its fold until his fingertips discovered what they were looking for. “You win. Lets go!” He got up and paid and grabbed her around her waist to usher her to the car when she remembered her shoes under the table. She

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J.J. Doulton hurried back and bent down to grab the one that was stuck behind the chair and for a moment forgot that she wasn’t wearing anything under her dress. She heard Julio’s suppressed chuckle when she realised that this time she had caused a disturbance with her bare behind. The little ornate box contained a small gipsy pendant with dangling chains of differing colours of gold that each terminated in small precious stones. It had been made into a piece of body jewellery. “Payback for the pierced ear you caused me once.” He had said and the next day he had made her get her navel pierced for it so she could wear it. The memory of this delightful day sent shivers trough her entire body and her nipples hardened. Julio kept inspecting her injury to soothe the swollen navel and the stinging pain, together with his touch, aroused her again and again. They didn’t have time for much else during those couple of days. She still wore a small diamond in her bellybutton. Her clit stiffened at the memory of her piercing and the sweet pain of the swelling lips swiftly followed. The thermometer rose, it was mid-morning and already the temperatures were well into the thirties on the Centigrade scale. It was too hot for clothes and thanks to the luxury of having the entire house to herself she dispensed with getting dressed. The hallway mirror captured her figure and, with a life of their own, her fingers drew circles around her navel. The small diamond caught the light and sent out sparkles from the centre of her belly while her arousal grew and demanded attention. With every move, the

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Toreador's Embrace moisture between her legs seeped further into every little crevice of her swollen flesh. Her fingers slowly moved through her bush when she heard the revving of a car engine as it turned the corner to the villa. The vehicle came to a skidding halt on the loose gravel and a car door slammed shut— there were steps on the stairs and then keys rattled against the lock. She stole a peek from behind the curtain of the hallway window. “Julio,” she whispered and ran to open the door.

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J.J. Doulton

Chapter Three: El Mar

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he saw Julio’s surprise in his eyes and knew, from what he had told her in other years, that he had fantasised about ravishing her during the entire drive. His prick would have been as hard as the gear stick as a result and by greeting him naked, she justified his fantasies and heightened his expectations. She was sweaty and sticky and saw that his nostrils flared to pick up her female fragrance. He pulled her into his embrace, moaned his intoxication into her ear and pressed his hard maleness into her groin. She pulled his open shirt off his shoulders and pressed her tits against his naked chest. “Gina.” She heard him whisper. The familiar scent of his after-shave filled her senses, made her swoon, and she melted into his kiss. The door closed behind him and with that her entire world was contained right in here at that very moment. She sank into his strong arms and together they stood motionless for a few minutes that seemed like an eternity. Gina didn’t dare move; she wanted

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Toreador's Embrace this moment to last forever. I’m not going to leave this time. She promised herself without knowing how to accomplish this. She knew she couldn’t leave him any more. This year, the vacation would turn into forever. Dear God, please make it happen. She held as much of him as her arms would take and imagined her body would merge with his, both becoming one entity. His face was buried on the side of hers and she heard him breathe in her scent into the deepest pockets of his lungs. His heart beat against her breasts and her senses whirled uncontrollably from the sudden explosion of confusing emotions. Her throat tensed, her eyelids clenched shut and tears seeped out at the corners and began rolling down her cheeks. “Shh. You’ve got me now.” He softly cooed into her ear and she realised that she had picked up his own emotions next to hers. She looked into his eyes and found a mirror of her own feelings. His fingers grabbed a handful of her platinum-blonde hair and in a wave of utter devotion she drowned herself in his kiss once more. “Lets go and freshen up in the water.” He prompted her and pulled her back to reality. Gina handed one of the beach towels close by to Julio, who discarded his clothes and both walked down to the beach across the patch of grass that lead to the steep rock steps. This house was the only one for miles, the beach was deserted and with only a few steps, hewn into the low cliff face, it didn’t take long to reach the white sand and the endless blue of the rolling Mediterranean.

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J.J. Doulton Silently they walked along the beach for a while and Julio looked as though he was deep in thought. There was plenty of time to talk later; for the moment the most important thing was just being together. The last time they walked here was after his father had been mauled by one of his prize bulls last year. The horn had penetrated his chest and he had died a few days later. The Mendez bulls were famous for their staying power. They gave the toreros a good fight and the crowds loved them. Then there were the horses, they were the domain of Eduardo. He grew up on the hacienda together with Julio’s father but the old man hardly ever talked about himself. Julio had once explained to her that, although the Mendez stud had its own stallions, Eduardo availed himself of the yearly spring spectacle whereby prize stallions from Madrid’s own military stud—la parada de sementales— toured the four Andalucian provinces to allow Spanish horse owners to service their mares and improve the bloodstock. It was a highly successful undertaking, but a lot of work for the stallions. During the season between four to six stallions covered some forty mares twice daily. Gina’s thoughts rarely lingered on the subject of the Mendez hacienda and only when she was with Julio would his property enter her mind again. He always stayed with her in the villa when she was on Pene Verde. Since last year, the property was in the hands of old Eduardo. He had stepped into Paolo Mendez’s shoes without batting an eyelid and carried on running the property as if it was the most natural

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Toreador's Embrace thing to him. The few times that Gina had visited the Mendez villa, Eduardo had kept just a fraction of a distance between them. There was something in his eyes that she couldn’t fathom; eyes that lingered on her just that little too long for a casual glance. The man, although in his sixties, was very handsome and had a virile air about him. Upon returning a couple of his glances in the past, she felt his manliness wash over her, brief and strong but dismissed it. In any case, it had never been enough of a distraction for her to mention anything to Julio. She would only make three or four visits during her summer stay, and that would be on Julio’s invitation on the occasion of the feria and bullfight in Aldorra during late August and their own birthday celebrations. Gina knew that Julio to this day still regarded her—his spoilt American blonde—as his secret and would protect that secret as much as he could from local prying and meddling. She smiled at that thought, although she was blonde, she was only half American—her mother was a fullblooded Spanish woman. Gina looked at Julio and ran her hand through his black hair. He turned to her, smiled and quickly grabbed her by the hand and pulled her toward him for a swift kiss. He ripped the towel off her body, discarded his as well and ran toward the water with her in tow. She had no choice but to run, as he had a firm hold on her hand and pulled her with him. Her breasts wildly jumped up and down and Julio’s soft member swung violently from side to side. The water was heavenly and after so many years she still had to remind herself that all this was hers, including the

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J.J. Doulton beach. They had learned over the years to wait for the right moment, tease and play with each other first and ease into lovemaking gradually, without haste. After a refreshing swim, they picked up their towels and made their way along the shore to a shady spot in the dunes while taking short dips in the gently rolling surf. They headed for the only place with a few small trees to give them shade and found an old familiar path. A narrow gap between the rocks led them behind the first line of dunes and they followed the track. Julio walked behind Gina and suddenly, without warning, her towel was yanked from her waist and she heard him laugh. She feigned horror, yelped at his daring and ran, laughing, ahead and around the next bend in the sand dunes. When she rounded the bend she suddenly came face to face with a rock that had stood here forever. It witnessed many a game Julio and her played in the dunes. She couldn’t resist and climbed onto the boulder to bestride it. It was tailormade for her and the smooth saddle still fitted her figure perfectly. Julio rounded the bend and appeared in the corner of her eyes. The rock had a small erection where she was seated. “It’s hot from the sun.” Her croaky voice betrayed her lust as she performed for him. She flung back her hair and pretended to ride a wild stallion while the little protrusion on her stony saddle stimulated her moist cunt. Her movements had to be subtle and small—there was no give in a rock and the very fact that she had to be careful inspired her arousal. The smooth, heated rock brought her on, she

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Toreador's Embrace arched her back so much that her tits stood almost straight in the air and stretched her arms out as far as she could, holding onto her stony steed with her heels, while she screamed out her cum through the hot sandy dunes. Julio grabbed her by her waist and helped her down when they discovered a smear of blood. She’d sustained a scratch. “Who says you can’t get blood from of a stone?” He grinned and she smiled at him— both remembered another sweet game from years ago. It excited her when Julio’s eyes were on her while she performed for him—she could feel the trace of his gaze—and like with any of her performances, watching her ride that rock had hardened his cock again. “If you can take a rock, you can take this.” He roughly turned her around and pushed her hard against her boulder so that the buttocks faced him. His knee parted her thighs with one forceful shove— the moment was right. She was so wet, his penis effortlessly thrust into her with the explosive force that she knew and loved so well. She groaned under his onslaught as her belly was pushed into the hard surface from the inside. He had a firm hold of her breasts as he fucked her against the rock from behind. A deep groan betrayed the surge of primeval lust that burned through his groin. “Gina.” She heard him whisper when he grabbed her waist for the few last thrusts that brought him to explode and ejaculate his sweet semen into her. Gina’s hips were grazed from the rock but she hardly noticed, neither did she care. The fire inside

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J.J. Doulton her consumed her as she lay back on the towel with one hand on her bush. Everything was burning, every fibre vibrated and his presence was all that mattered. After a while they headed for the water. The salt burned her grazes. Julio caressed the small injuries and gently splashed more water over them. Slowly, the burning eased and they swam into deeper water. The old landing was dilapidated and falling apart, except for the one platform that still stood on its own, detached from the long-gone construction that had once connected it to the shore. On that old platform, Gina and Julio lost their virginity together many years ago. They swam toward it. Gina dove away from Julio and sped up her strokes. She arrived at the wooden skeleton first and hung on to the barnacle-covered pylon. Her feet looked for a hold to push her out of the water when Julio’s hand reached for her leg and held her back. A sudden shiver wandered through her belly, there was a tiny, but short, sharp stab in her belly button. Julio’s arm slid up along the inside of her leg. “Come here.” With that he pulled her back into the water. She splashed back into the sea, turned around and encircled Julio’s torso with her legs. “Give me your fingers.” She was mad about his fingers, long, strong fingers that knew just how to drive her lust. His hands between her thighs moved upward and she leant back, opening up for him. She floated right in front of him with her legs on his shoulders now and let the sea flush over and through her flesh as his fingers so

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Toreador's Embrace cunningly caressed every inch of her burning flesh. Her blonde hair spread like a bed of seaweed around her head and she paddled with her hands to remain afloat. Then he released her and pushed her down toward his cock. Despite the cool water, it was hard and throbbing. Gina grabbed the weathered and waterworn timber of the old platform and Julio pressed against her. Slowly she slipped over his penis and delighted in the weightlessness while they remained intertwined for a while. His arms and legs felt like the tentacles of an octopus as he caressed and held her. After they played for some time they climbed onto the wooden structure and laid back. Every time they visited the landing—like an old friend—they recounted and re-lived that first deflowering penetration. Nothing but the distant, quiet ripple of the waves on the sandy beach disturbed the quietness, just like back then. Softly, he had cradled her and carefully eased himself into her body, without rush, drawing out the moment for as long as humanly possible. She remembered the sharp pain and her scream when he tore her hymen and she smiled. “Tear it slowly so I will never forget the moment I lost my virginity, Julio,” she had asked him and he promised her that he also would want to remember his first time forever. First the head of his penis stretched the piece of skin until it almost burst and the pain began. As he pushed a little more, the slow and excruciating tearing sensation made her cry. “Julio!”

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J.J. Doulton Once the rim of the head had slipped past, he paused a while before completing her deflowering. Slowly he pushed all the way in while the rest of her virginity vanished. His mouth closed over hers and he drank her cries of pain as they turned into cries of ecstasy. Then he pushed himself upright and pulled out as far as he could without leaving her completely and feasted his eyes on the beautiful and bloody devastation. He wiped some of the red-colored juice with his finger and, looking into her eyes, slowly let his tongue lick it off. “I remember the taste to this day, Gina.” He read her thoughts. For a long time, they just drifted and slowly moved in the rhythm of their bodies. His penis slid inside her vagina with a deliberate, slow and cunning caress. Every fibre inside her wanted to feel his cock. Gina held still and let only her breasts move up and down with her breath in the same slow rhythm. Julio’s penis retreated just as slowly—right back out to meet her clit for a slow and gentle rub. She squealed as her tension increased further. “You are beautiful, my lover, so beautiful.” He guided his penis along the slippery lips, but didn’t stop at her vagina. Instead it pushed its way further along her cunt to her other opening, then gently eased its tip just inside the muscle, slowly, deliberately to greet her there, too, and return to her moist cunt. She wanted him so much it was almost unbearable, everything ached with tension and swelling and she felt like she was on fire. And still Julio had no mercy on her and continued their

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Toreador's Embrace foreplay. He had her pinned down on the old platform and teased her while she hungered for his thrust. And just as slowly as before, he entered her again but this time remained motionless, deep inside her. She closed her eyes and the magic of their old playground did the rest. The pulsations of his cum sent a fiery bolt of lightning into her womb and through her heart, and her body responded and exploded into a thousand pieces. Her spasms sucked him inside and she felt him touch her as far as his cock would reach. Both remained still to let their orgasm wash over them. They had known each other their entire lives but circumstances had always dictated long separations, for many months and over great distances; but the longing for each other’s bodies made them save their lust and desire for the few weeks they could manage to meet. This platform was the centre of the universe for her and she knew that Julio’s feelings were the same. His face touched hers and her hungry lips searched and found his for a long, satisfied kiss. Her hands played with his hair and once again she found herself thinking I don’t want to leave this time, I want this to last forever. Time for talking had arrived and they made themselves comfortable on the old timber planks. Immersed in recollections of their early encounters, she hung on every one of Julio’s words that spilled over his lips as they sat and talked. Gina felt happy, careless and safe like she always did beside him. At this very moment, she counted herself to be one of the

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J.J. Doulton most lucky people on this planet. Every year she was able to re-live those moments in her life that really mattered to her and Julio. The close caress of her first love had not been lost to her like to so many other women she knew. “I couldn’t bear it if this old construction were to collapse, Julio. It leans more and more each year.” Affectionately she ran her hand along the rough and washed out edge of the timber. “When I’m unhappy after a miserable day at the office, I stretch out on my bed and close my eyes and imagine lying here, next to you, on this timber, listening to the soft ripple of the water. It’s the best place in the world to me.” She felt his response in his fingers as they stroked over her belly, pausing every now and then to reassure her. “Maybe we should have it fixed up so it won’t deteriorate any further.” He quietly suggested. “It would please me if that could be done.” “Leave it to me.” He bent over her and kissed her on the nose, and she knew that by next year, the landing would be secure. He shifted position so that the sun would be on his back and he didn’t need to squint while talking to her. “Memories of Maria keep coming back to me lately, Gina.” Julio confessed. He was six years old when she died as a consequence of her injuries sustained in the fire at the Mendez house, that much she knew about his sister. “I keep seeing her face and she looks at me as if she wanted to tell me something,” he continued. Gina knew of Maria but only since his father’s death had he begun to talk about her. “Next time I see Eduardo I’ll ask him about

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Toreador's Embrace her—I need to know more.” It was obviously important to him because it had made him slightly melancholy that the thought of his little sister wouldn’t leave him alone. “I don’t remember playing with Maria. I’m sure I would have met her once or twice, but I don’t seem to recall.” Gina had just turned five years old at the time of the fire and the villa had only been sold to her father a couple of years earlier. “No, you wouldn’t have met Maria. The first time I visited your villa was during the summer after the fire. I remember thinking that maybe you could be my new sister. Now I thank heaven that you’re not.” His words elicited a smile from her and she kissed the shoulder on which she leant. The rhythm of the ocean lulled them back into their own thoughts as they held each other closely. Gina’s mind slid back to her dream the night before. She told Julio of it, and that she had no idea what it meant. “It felt so real, Julio, I was able to smell the grass, the flowers and hear the wind in the treetops and the singing of the birds. But then the man turned into a monster. Until a few years ago I always used to wake when he stood over me, but lately the nightmare had begun to lengthen and he gets more of me each time. Last night he held my hands behind my back and forced me into a circle of strangers. That’s when I woke up. I wonder how much longer these dreams keep recurring and, what’s more, how much farther this monster will go.” He lay beside her and stroked her hair then leant over and kissed her again to reassure her. “He won’t

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J.J. Doulton hurt you as long as I have anything to say about it. He won’t mess with me.” His smile made her feel less anxious, and his humorous approach had the desired effect. She paid no more attention to her nightmarish attacker. She snuggled up against her Spanish lover and caressed his perfect physique, burning every little detail into her memory. His hand rested on her near breast and the nipple rose under his palm. She followed her impulse and embraced him to pull him close to herself. She pulled up her leg over his and caressed the back of it with her heel, pressing herself into his groin. His eyes closed and she felt his cock respond. He unclasped her limbs and turned to lie next to her with his face close to her bush offering his hard and throbbing member to her mouth. The tip of his tongue circled her clit, tirelessly, while his fingers pulled every little fold of skin back to expose as much of her swollen flesh to his tongue as possible and while it played with the little knob, her own tongue played with the tip of his penis. When she felt his teeth gently close around her clit, she did likewise and licked his penis to taste the intoxicating male fragrance. Then, he released the little pod and sent his tongue deep into her vagina to lick the softness inside her. She reciprocated and let her own tongue caress him and increase the urge that pulsated through his erect penis. Gina’s breath became short and pressured as her body responded to his stimulations. Not yet! This play was too delicious to end too soon, and both shifted positions to continue to please

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Toreador's Embrace each other's bodies. He rose to his knees, wedged his cock between her tits and tightly clenched them in his hands. She delighted in fondling her cunt to the rhythm of his pelvis and teased herself with wellplaced gentle strokes of her fingernails. “What do you want right now?” He asked her between deep sighs. Right now? She didn’t have to think long. She loved to watch Julio play with himself and reciprocate the pleasure. “I want to see what you do when you’re on your own,” she replied. Gently, Julio released her tits and liberated his prick. She leant against the one remaining post on the platform and continued to play with herself. Julio sat back on his heels, grabbed his cock with both hands and aimed it at Gina while his tongue played between his lips and his eyes were fixed on her hands’ movements. Slowly he moved the fist up and down the shaft, pulled the skin over the top as tight as it would stretch, and back down as far as it would allow. His eyes closed and he fully immersed himself in his own pleasure. His hands caressed and massaged his testes and crept along the fold toward his date. Her tits reacted with a jolt when she saw him push his finger inside his anus to stimulate himself. She’d discovered something new on him and it sent her wild. Gina watched him and her juice ran down from her cunt, seeped along the crack between her buttocks and onto the planks of the landing. Every one of her moves was accompanied by wet noises. She intensely watched Julio who opened his eyes again when she

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J.J. Doulton moaned. Her heart raced toward release. She felt his stare on her, pupils large and black—open and naked lust for her body welled up from those deep pools. He stood up and pulled her onto her feet then turned her around and pushed her onto the huge old post. It once was straight but time had caused it to lean out over the waves below. She held onto it and waited for Julio’s prick while she looked out over the endless expanse of ocean. It felt as if she flew, only the post held her back from falling into the water. She stretched her arms and they felt like wings. Julio forced her legs apart so they would dangle down on either side of the post and sank into her, slowly and strongly. It was the only thing that connected her to the ground now. Julio’s prick kept her pinned to the weathered pole. His powerful thrusts caused her bush and clit to rub against the roughness of the timber and created very acute and direct stimulation. Again and again he sank into her with his feet firmly placed on the planks. He had a tight grip on Gina’s waist and directed her body to meet his moves. The gliding sensation was overwhelming and she surrendered to him. With all his strength he thrust his penis into her and fucked her, as fast as he could and as deep as their bodies would allow it. Gina placed her hands on the timber and pushed herself up to arch her back with the explosion that followed in her belly. The sensations of his hot semen that squirted into the very back of her vagina filled her entire being and effortlessly she climaxed under him. Her screams and Julio’s unrestrained hoarse

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Toreador's Embrace cries of his orgasm mingled with the approaching roar of the wind, then died down to exhausted gasps for air. Neither of them wanted to move from this position and Julio laid down onto Gina’s back, kissed her neck and kept her safe in his strong embrace. With his penis still in her vagina, they both looked out over the sea. The sun had disappeared behind black clouds and the waves showed little white caps. The water had taken on a menacing dark green tinge. It wasn’t the first time they had been caught out here by a passing storm. Slowly, Julio loosened his grip around Gina and the post and helped her back onto the platform. She needed assistance for the first few steps, until her muscles obeyed her again. Then they dove into the deep black, swam ashore and made their way to their hideaway between the dunes where a rock overhang promised shelter. Wrapped together in the towels they waited for the storm to blow over before returning to her villa. Enveloped in his arms she watched as the rain fell and the drops soaked into the sand. He cradled her and subtly rocked her back and forth. “Every year I try to find the courage to bring a change into our relationship that would result in more permanence. But I am afraid that if I change anything at all, I’ll loose what we have.” He kept her tight in his arms. “What do you mean?” She wasn’t entirely sure what he meant and certainly wasn’t ready for a marriage proposal. “I mean, I want more of you than just six weeks on Pene Verde de San Pedro, but I don’t know how to

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J.J. Doulton bring it about without killing the reckless passion that’s remained so alive between us.” She detected the slight vibrato of desperation in his voice. “I love our games and I love your wantonness and if I change any of it, you will no longer be who you are now.” She didn’t answer him because a huge lump had risen in her throat and it nearly choked her. She turned and buried her face on his chest and let her tears mingle with the stray drops of rain that trickled down his skin. She knew she had to fight her own demons first before she could reply to his revealing confession. The storm passed and they made their way back to her villa. When they climbed up the rocky steps from the beach, Gina looked over the edge toward the house and saw her Spanish villa loom up from its grounds in an almost sinister stance. The sun shone through the narrow gap between the clouds and the horizon and sent her last rays to reflect from the windowpanes in an unusual glint. Gina stopped and nudged Julio, who followed her gaze. He looked at the building for a moment and then teased Gina “Your mansion looks haunted,” and imitated the howl of an imaginary ghost. She laughed and slapped him across his chest with the tip of her towel, stepped over the last rock and then ran ahead of him, across the grass toward the house. In the meantime, the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and the house’s appearance had returned to normal. Gina grabbed the doorknob and expected the door to open, but was rudely denied entry into her

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Toreador's Embrace mansion. She remembered closing the doors but she would never lock up. This area was simply too far out of the way to bother. She tried repeatedly, but the door remained locked. “I didn’t lock it. Did you?” She turned to Julio. “No. This door only locks from the inside. From the outside a key is required to lock or unlock it. I only have a front door key—and that’s inside.” Julio was as perplexed as she was. And she knew that he was correct. This particular lock required to have a tight bolt moved on the inside. It wouldn’t just accidentally fall into place. “Now what?” Gina asked the obvious. “One of us has to climb in through an open window. Lets see if my bedroom window is open.” Both walked around the other side of the house and gazed up at Gina’s first floor bedroom window. Yes, she’d left it open. “I remember seeing a ladder in Juan’s workshop when he showed me around.” Gina headed for the old stables to find it and Julio followed her. She only used the smallest of the old stables to garage the car, the other buildings didn’t interest her. Juan used them to store tools and for maintenance work on the villa. The extension ladder hung neatly on the wall and out of the way. Julio reached up, unhooked it and together they went back to the house. It reached safely up to her bedroom balcony. He climbed the ladder while Gina watched him—she couldn’t help herself and admired his well-muscled ass and thighs that framed his rig—eye candy. He left his towel on the ground to climb the ladder. She listened to his steps as he walked through her

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J.J. Doulton bedroom and heard the door to the corridor open. She turned to head back around to the other side of the house when she heard the muffled scream of a woman. She froze, listened intently, and again there was, but fainter, the scream of a woman. An intruder! “Julio!” She called out, ran toward the French doors and picked up a rock at the veranda edge. She was just about to throw the stone to smash in the glass when Julio opened the doors from the inside. “What’s wrong?” He asked her, baffled. “Who screamed?” She asked, breathless. “What scream?” He replied. “Nobody screamed, there is no one inside.” He’d grabbed a shirt on his way down and pants and was in the process of doing up his fly. Gina flung herself at him, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his. “I heard a woman scream twice while you were in there, Julio, quite clearly, and it came from inside the house.” Julio calmed her down and explained again that there was no one inside the house and that he had not heard anything, least of all a woman scream. Most doors were open in the villa so that the air could circulate, therefore, if there were anyone inside, he would have heard it. They concluded that since dusk was setting in, it would most probably have been an owl in the trees around the house. “Now lets see what’s wrong with this lock.” Julio took charge and investigated the locked door. “The bolt was definitely in the latch when I unlocked it just

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Toreador's Embrace then. I think maybe the bolt was only halfway open and when the door was closed, the movement caused it to slip back into the latch completely.” It was plausible and both were satisfied with that explanation but in Gina’s mind, the house had suddenly taken on an identity of its own. After they freshened up, Julio opened a bottle of Marques Del Puerto Crianza, a nice Rioja, and poured some of the red wine into a couple of glasses and then they made themselves busy in the kitchen. Playing on the beach made for a healthy appetite. Gina’s eyes wandered all over the interior of her villa. She was familiar with every last corner as not much had been changed or altered since her father bought the property twenty-eight years ago. The kitchen had received modern appliances as did the bathroom upstairs and the only modern addition was a small shower facility just off the kitchen, behind the huge staircase. Other than that, everything remained the same. Even the heavy, stained-glass panels in the front door were still the originals. They showed a beautiful arrangement of grapevines with ripe, blue grapes and a delicate rambling rose that framed the fruit detail with pale pink flowers. The original Moorish-inspired mosaic ceramic floor tiles continued their symmetrical blue design from the entrance hall right through to the lounge room and into the kitchen. Gina loved this floor, it added a lot of light to the interior through the white background in the motif. The huge wooden staircase with its carved railing was situated in the centre of the house and marked the division between the open lounge and kitchen area

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J.J. Doulton and the study and the reading room that now served other purposes. Her bedroom was upstairs, the first door on the left, it was also the largest room. It used to be her parents bedroom, but after her mother’s death, Gina had rearranged the furniture to suit herself. In all, there were four bedrooms upstairs and one large bathroom. The two bedrooms situated over the front half of the house had balconies. The bedroom next to hers unofficially belonged to Julio’s friend Romano. He even left some clothes and shoes in the wardrobe, things he’d only wear on the beach, so he didn’t have to carry them back and forth. Gina had taken a liking to Romano. His grey eyes and streaky light brown hair together with his slim frame made for an alluring street-urchin look. She knew of his infatuation with Julio and it excited her. She had tried many times to seduce him, but Romano didn’t want to play the game—it was Julio he wanted, not her. He and Julio grew up together and also went to the same school, but he was never included in hers and Julio’s summers until both entered university. Then it became obvious that Romano was only interested in boys, not girls, and Julio invited him to the villa one summer after they had graduated. Sometimes he would bring a lover along, which added spice to their vacations. “Romano should be on his way by now, he took the night train from Madrid. He’ll be here early tomorrow morning.” Julio’s voice filtered into her mind and pulled her out of her thoughts. The menacing feel of the house seemed to have dissipated

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Toreador's Embrace and she put the glass of Rioja to her lips. “Who will he bring this time?” She asked with a grin on her face and drank some wine. “He’ll be on his own, Alex broke up with him.” Gina never met Alex but knew of him from her phone conversations with Julio. “Look out.” She quietly said, implying that without company, Romano would be fair game for her this summer. Julio only smiled with a mysterious deep growl. “Take no prisoners,” he replied and mirrored her grin. “He didn’t.” “What do you mean?” Gina’s curiosity awoke and she prompted Julio. “I want to know every little detail.” “He won’t be safe here after I tell you. I’ll have to leave for Morocco and you’ll have him all to yourself for a few days.” His grin broadened and there was something else in his eyes but she was too exhausted and had too much wine to analyse it. He told in detail of the high-altitude love-scene between him and Romano. Julio’s raunchy story had the desired effect and Gina’s hand stole down inside her skirt. She never wore underwear in the house, especially not while Julio was with her, and her finger easily found her clit. She clung to Julio’s lips and listened to him fuck her with his voice. He stood up and came around the table. Greedily she drank his kiss while his hand joined hers under her skirt before he whispered, “Lets go upstairs, it's been a long day.” “You’re right.” She agreed and felt herself lifted off

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J.J. Doulton the chair by his strong arms that carried her to her bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and undressed her before he discarded his own clothes. Then he slid next to her under the cool satin sheets and held her in his arms. Gently, he kissed her ‘goodnight’ without availing himself of her body. This wasn’t her lover’s usual behaviour, and she puzzled over his sudden withdrawal into sleep. Maybe the affair with Romano had unsettled him, she reasoned, and the prospect of leaving her alone with his friend made him uncertain. Her stubborn streak came through loud and clear— why should he have all the fun while Romano had never reciprocated her efforts? She defiantly argued in her head. Slowly, the effects of a day on the beach took their toll and soon, the soft sheets invited her to close her eyes and drift into much needed sleep. At the same time, faint cries—in the wail of an owl nearby—echoed through the stands of trees behind the property. Gina heard them and let them pass. There were many owls hunting at night in these parts. *** Julio watched Gina slip into her sleep and contemplated their special bond. There was something about his spoilt American blonde that made her different from all other women he had ever encountered. Making love with her was a total experience; it belonged to them like eating, breathing or talking. He couldn’t keep his fling with Romano

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Toreador's Embrace from her—not with him spending a few weeks here on the peninsula. Romano would certainly brag about it, and hearing this from anyone else would be unforgivable. Sometimes not having any secrets from one another did hurt. For the first time, he wished he hadn’t given in to Romano, but he couldn’t undo it. He still had his freedom, but so did she. Would Romano give in to her this time? Like he had given into Romano? The light breeze that came through the bedroom window soothed him into slumber too. Her buttocks were firmly nestled against his groin and his hands rested on her curves. He smelt her soft skin and silky hair and breathed deeply. Then he found himself back in another time and heard his father’s voice “Maria!” And again “Maria!” He looked around but couldn’t see his little sister. He followed his father into the stables. One of the stallions was uneasy and pranced restlessly around in his box. Julio caught up with his father and together they looked inside the stallion’s stable box. Little Maria stood in the centre and directed the mighty white stallion from the height of an upturned bucket, giggling while turning round and round. Father opened the gate to get her out, but she vanished. The rearing horse came toward Julio, who retreated backward and lost his footing. There was nowhere to go, and the hooves came crashing toward him. Julio closed his eyes and waited for the impact, but nothing happened. When he looked, the stallion also had disappeared—as a matter of fact, the entire stable had simply vanished and Julio was lying on the grass

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J.J. Doulton outside his home. Again he heard his father call Maria. This time there was panic in the voice. Julio looked in the direction of the voice but could only see fire. The fire was inside Maria’s room and he could see Maria’s sad face behind the glass of the window. He stretched out his arm and attempted to walk toward her to rescue her but something held his feet on the one spot—he couldn’t move. He heard her scream. Gina shook in his arms, and he realised that it was her who had screamed. He grabbed her shoulder, called her name and turned on the lamp beside the bed. “Gina, wake up! You’ve had a bad dream.” She turned around to him and wiped the tears from her eyes. “He caught me again, Julio.” “Who?” He was alarmed. “My father keeps dragging me off to a gathering with these cloaked figures, burning crosses and dancing in pools of blood. He once forced me to attend one of his meetings when I was a child, just to prove to me what I would be missing because I wasn’t born a son to him. Sometimes I don’t have any nightmares for months, then, suddenly, they keep coming almost nightly. This ended with me standing in a pool of blood. That’s when I woke up.” Julio pulled her into his arms and kissed her “I dreamt of Maria again, but woke when you screamed.” “I didn’t scream. He had a hand around my throat, I could hardly breathe, let alone scream.” “You must have, because the scream woke me up.”

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Toreador's Embrace “I heard those screams again just before I fell asleep. They were faint, but I heard them. I thought it was an owl, but now I start to think that something isn’t right here.” “I never heard an owl.” He calmed her down. Jetlag had a way of catching up with people a couple of days after a long flight. He was sure that it was Gina who screamed in her dream and woke him. He pulled her closer. The strong businesswoman in his arms appeared a vulnerable and fragile young girl who needed his protection. I don’t want her to leave again. Living for a few weeks a year is becoming very difficult. He kissed her and she nestled into his arms and soon, her breathing told him that she had slipped back to sleep and he felt himself doze off, too. “Maria!” This time he heard his own voice call out to his little sister. He found her sitting on a woman’s lap snuggling against her breasts with one arm around her neck. The woman smiled at him and he called her Mother. She got up and handed him the little girl. She tried to tell him something but he could not hear her. He looked at her face but it was empty, with only thick black curls framing it. There were no eyes, nose or mouth. The empty face opened and a blood-curdling scream surged from it and flooded over him, pushed him back until he fell. The fall was endless, the black abyss gaped beneath him and he kept falling into it; he braced himself for the impact and he could already feel the crushing thud … and woke with a terrified gasp. Gina stirred next to him and he looked at her.

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J.J. Doulton Dawn was about to break and the sweat pearled on his forehead and in the small of his back. He folded the satin sheets back to cool down. Gina seemed uneasy—she kicked out with her legs and pushed whatever threatened her in her dream, away from her with her arms. Her legs parted slightly and at the same time the air in her throat seemed to restrict. Julio heard her choke on something and thought it best to wake her. She whirled around and, in a desperate attempt to get away from an assailant only visible to her, lashed out at him but didn’t succeed as he caught her arm and called her “Gina. Wake up. You’ve had another bad dream.” She went limp in his arms and sobbed. “It was the same dream again, Julio.” “Tell me your dream, Gina, every detail. Maybe it will help to banish it this time.” By encouraging her to tell her nightmare he hoped that he would become distracted from his own. “It always starts off with a happy feeling, I’m running in the green grass, picking flowers and a stranger offers to play with me. Then the sky turns black and the stranger turns into my father. He captures me and holds my hands at my back and pushes me toward a burning cross. Then there are dozens of people all dressed in white-hooded cloaks, cheering and clapping and father pushes me into the centre. When I look at my feet, I realise that I am standing in blood again.” She shuddered at her last words and finished “That’s all I remember—then you woke me up.” Julio pulled her close and stroked her platinum-

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Toreador's Embrace blonde hair. “He won’t come back or he’ll have to deal with me. Your father’s old club is but a gathering of frustrated wannabes whose only success in life has been to terrorize people. They don’t count, they are of the past and that’s where they belong—in the distant past, not into your dreams.” He managed to elicit a smile from Gina. “It was just a silly dream, and I’m sure the sudden exposure to so much sun has taken its toll. We’ll stay in the shade tomorrow so you won’t have any more nightmares.” Gina seemed happy with this explanation and pushed her face into his soft flesh between shoulder and ribs. Julio laid back and enjoyed her caresses. The image of Maria and his faceless mother haunted him, but they slowly faded as Gina’s fingers advanced on his body. He felt her fingers caressing his groin and responded. He grabbed the mass of platinum blonde hair and pulled her head back. His tongue explored her ear, her neck, her chin and found its way between her lips. Her tongue snaked its way past his lips and met his and, like two serpents mating, they coiled around and explored each other as if for the first time. Quite obviously, Gina was her lustful self again. She moved lower and he felt her mouth close around his nipples. She alternated between them and distributed her caresses evenly between both. She moved further down still, licked and probed his navel while her fingers caressed his nuts. He felt the sharp pain as her claws slid along the inside of his thigh and he moaned. She repeated it on the other leg, and the intentional scratches left a trail of hot lines that

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J.J. Doulton intensified his arousal. Her tongue had reached the base of his penis and explored its immediate surroundings. He felt his balls sucked inside her mouth, gently squeezed then spat out again one after the other. His fingers played with her hair and encouraged her to more of the same. The sensation spread from the one spot to his entire body until he felt nothing else but Gina’s tongue, and his neck tensed, pulling his head back. Her tongue was on the move and climbed up his cock. Her hands pried his legs apart and he felt one of her fingers enter his backslice. Immediately his prick hardened another degree. Her tongue reached the tip of it and assaulted his piss hole before her entire mouth closed around it. Her lips slid over the shank until he could feel the back of her throat with the tip of his cock. Slowly and gently she grated her teeth on him on her way back up and circled the tip again with her tongue. The tickling sensation was almost unbearable and it sent shivers through his legs, his belly and his spine, neck and into his brain. She had once told him that he tasted sweet. She increased the pressure on his cock to suck him, her fingers slid his skin up and down as far as her lips allowed. He laid still, didn’t move, let her control him which she did beautifully and let her suck his semen out of him. Once unleashed, the thick fluid forced itself through his penis in a succession of pumping contractions from deep within and flushed through his cock as it rushed out of him. He filled her mouth with it and felt the reflex of the muscles in her throat as she swallowed every last drop of it.

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Toreador's Embrace She had whetted his appetite and he could already taste her as his saliva collected under his tongue. He rolled her body to the side and kissed her on the inside of her thighs, licking his way toward her deep, scented flesh and heard her squeal as he forced his tongue to slide inside her. Her taste made him drowsy and he wanted to eat as much as possible of her and had to hold back so he wouldn’t bite into her soft quivering flesh. The tremors in her strengthened and he felt the first of the spasms of her inside and lost himself in the deliciousness of her cum. Her climax spilled into his mouth and he greedily sucked every little drop he discovered. This time, when she screamed, it was not from a nightmare. It was still too early to rise, and he relished another hour or so dozing next to his spoilt American blonde. Gina was still fast asleep when he decided to surprise her with breakfast in bed. He knew she loved fruit and the kitchen overflowed with some of Spain’s freshest produce—Juan and Ria ensured it remained stocked well—to make breakfast was therefore no challenge and even he knew how to brew fresh coffee. Without warning came her scream. An icy-cold shudder grabbed him, and for a second he froze before he dropped everything and ran. Gina! He thought, ran out of the kitchen and upstairs. He flung open her bedroom door and found her sitting up with a start and a perplexed look on her face. “Why did you scream?” “I didn’t scream.” She replied, even more puzzled. “What’s going on?” “I was in the kitchen preparing some fruit when I

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J.J. Doulton heard a scream that came from upstairs—well, sort of, I thought it came from this direction.” “We must find out what’s going on here. Maybe an animal is caught somewhere in the grounds.” She was right, and he agreed. “After breakfast we check it out.” He still felt the coldness in his veins. “This is ludicrous.” “I’ll come and help you make breakfast.” Gina offered and climbed out of bed. It was seven in the morning and another beautiful Spanish summer’s day had begun. Instead of breakfast in bed, they decided that the veranda off the lounge room with the roses climbing over the trellis, dappling the rays of the morning sun, was much better suited. They took their time to enjoy a lazy not-much-to-do summer’s day waiting for Romano.

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Toreador's Embrace

Chapter Four: Magia Negra

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omano’s schedule didn’t allow him to accompany Julio to the coast after their descent from the climb, and he flew back to Madrid on Thursday evening. He worked for I.M.E. International, like Julio, and had to present his proposal of an advertising campaign to one of his assigned clients who flew in especially early on Friday morning from Lisbon. The hours dragged, and he couldn’t wait to join his friends for a couple of weeks of carefree summer fun. Late on Friday evening he boarded the night train to Aldorra that was to connect to the local train to San Pedro. He found his compartment and made himself comfortable. The trip would last all night and he headed for the restaurant carriage for a bite to eat and a drink. The contents of a bottle of Clos Mogador soon made him drowsy and the motion of the train rocked him to sleep. Train interiors quickly became hot and stifling. To open a window was not an option, the resulting

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J.J. Doulton turbulence would have become too uncomfortable. Romano woke from the heat and pulled the cover down to reach over to the air controls and turned them down all the way, but the relief was only marginal. He left the covers off and tried to relax and ease back into a well-earned slumber. The train soon fell silent around him and he found himself on the edge of a giant expanse of forest. The path led between the trees and he followed it. Inside the forest it was still and comfortable and the dim light that entered from where he had just come lessened progressively the further he followed the path inside the dense forest. All he could see now were the faint silhouettes of tree trunks in front of him. Under foot, the moss and the thick carpet of fallen needles muffled his step. Overhead the only sound he could hear was the faint wail of the breeze that pushed through the needles in the tree tops. A sensual feeling permeated through this soft darkness. He was aware that he was naked and felt the thick, cushion-like forest floor under his bare feet. His senses picked up movement. There was a branch that brushed over his skin. The breeze in the treetops sounded like the soft singing of voices. Another pine tree stroked him with its needle-covered limb. Romano grabbed it with his hands and held it back. The branch tried to free itself, but when unsuccessful, began instead to creep along Romano’s chest, followed his waist and sneaked past his buttocks. Romano freed himself and ran, only to stumble and fall onto the soft forest floor. The ground slowly

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Toreador's Embrace moved under him, rose and fell with an undulating motion. He looked back and hoped to find the way out, but the path was no longer there. He was trapped in an endless army of trees that was about to close in on him. The singing above him grew louder. He could distinguish between different voices, male and female. The movement of the trees grew more discernible. “We won’t harm you,” came the words from within himself at the same time as he felt the root of a tree penetrate the thick carpet below him and grow to move up between his legs. The thick root stretched then bent around his waist to tie him down. He trusted the words he heard before and didn’t struggle. Tree trunks moved closer and lowered their branches to touch him and as they did so, they turned into hands, the trunks into bodies, the root about his waist had grown into an arm that embraced him. He felt tongues that licked his lips, mouths that sucked his nipples and hands that clenched fast around his prick. His eyes grew used to the darkness, and he recognised silhouettes of different bodies. His arousal became obvious when his prick swelled and stiffened. It rose into the dark forest air like a new sapling tree that reached for the light. He lifted himself up onto his knees and the hand on his prick retreated only to be replaced by a mouth that artfully sucked him. His exposed ass was the target of another pair of hands that grabbed his buttocks and parted them to reveal his backslit. He moaned when a cock in the dark found it and pushed itself in, all the way in, back out, in again and again. He licked his lips and wanted

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J.J. Doulton a taste of it and before he finished the thought, a bit of hard filled his mouth. His own hands found pulsating cocks all around him. The heat became unbearable and he could hardly breathe. He woke and found himself back in his train compartment, the heat was stifling and the sweat pearled on his belly. His hands were busy with his penis. The dim light of the cabin revealed that he was no longer alone. The boyish face of the waiter from the restaurant carriage appeared in the sliding door glass. Romano looked at him and continued to masturbate. The stranger opened the compartment door and stepped inside. Romano let go of his cock, grabbed the stranger by his belt and pulled him toward the bunk where he laid. He untied the belt, opened the pants and let them fall to the floor. The waiter’s cock was as hard as his own and Romano just looked at it for a while, fondled it lightly and enjoyed the young flesh. The stranger’s lips opened slightly and his tongue slithered back and forth between them. Romano grabbed the hair on the back of his visitor's head and pushed that inviting mouth toward his waiting penis. The lips were only too willing. He kept a tight grip on the stranger’s head to remain in control of his movements. The young man’s fingers explored Romano’s body, played with the testes and crept toward his backslice. All the while, the eager mouth sucked his pulsating cock. The body in front of him looked firm and well muscled, the result of working out, Romano imagined. He pulled the boyish face off his penis and

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Toreador's Embrace rose from the bunk, and motioned him to turn around. He found the date already well lubricated— the angel came prepared—and didn’t hesitate, a firm push and his penis pierced the waiting ass. The angel gave a short cry. The train rattled along in the same monotonous rhythm, a rhythm adopted by Romano and the young waiter in front of him. I don’t even know his name came to his mind. His hand reached around the belle’s pelvis and grabbed his erect cock “What’s your name?” he whispered into his ear. “Antonio. Yours is Romano.” The credit card in the dining carriage, Romano realised. Antonio closed his own hand tightly over Romano’s on his cock and eased into the slow deliberate rhythm, one beat to the train’s two beats over the track joins. The sensuous, delicious teasing and sliding of flesh against flesh completely filled the time-span in which all senses focused on their cocks. The backslice was tight and Romano wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible. He eased off and held Antonio’s pelvis still with a strong grip. The angel moaned as his thighs and buttocks quivered with the force of the suppressed lust, but Romano didn’t release his grip until he himself was in control of his own urge again. He loosened his grip on Antonio and pumped the angel’s backslit again, slowly, deep and back again, to allow his penis the entire benefit of the tight massage. He still had a hold of the young prick and felt the tremors rise. Antonio moaned and his hands clutched tight over Romano’s. With a few sudden and violent

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J.J. Doulton jerks, he milked the young cock until the semen spouted from it to the beat of the train’s rhythm on its tracks. Romano’s penis, tightly wedged inside the angel’s date, felt the wave of contractions that coursed through Antonio’s flesh and responded accordingly. His pelvis took over and he grabbed Antonio’s hips with both hands. He pulled the young man in against his pelvic thrusts that were coming fast and furious, again and again, faster and faster until he felt his own juice pump through his cock that unloaded into the angel’s anus while he hissed his relief into the waiter’s ear. The young man suppressed his cries and leant back against Romano. Then his angel departed as swiftly as he had entered and left Romano to sleep quietly for the rest of the journey. The grating loudspeaker voice announced the pending arrival in Aldorra. Romano readied himself to change to the train that would take him to San Pedro. He had a half hour’s wait before the departure of the old train which went by quickly. He took his seat in the smoking compartment and pulled out a cigarette. Before he could take out the lighter, a hand appeared in front of his face, holding a flame ready for him to light his cigarette. He accepted and pulled in deeply with the first glow of the tobacco. He looked around and to his surprise, last night’s angel stood next to the seat’s backrest. He had a close look at him. Antonio was much younger than himself with reddish hair and boyish freckles, eyes that glinted between grey and green and was slightly

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Toreador's Embrace shorter than himself. He offered him a smoke and the young man accepted. “What happened to your job in the Restaurant wagon?” Romano quizzed the young man. “I just completed my shift for the month, and now I have a week off in San Pedro. My parents live there.” Romano’s heart took a double beat when he heard Antonio’s answer. He’d found his vacation romance. “Sit down and join me. I go to San Pedro also. Here is my phone number, I stay with friends on the peninsula.” “The forbidden beach.” Antonio smiled. “Why do you say that?” “My parents told me that a monster lives down there and that no girl alone is safe there. The girls in the village were forbidden to go there alone to swim. That’s why in San Pedro it has the nickname the forbidden beach.” Antonio smiled “But I’m not a girl.” “Thank heaven you’re not.” Romano replied and teased his young companion with the tip of his tongue slithering between his lips. “What sort of a monster?” He asked. “A huge devil with a prick as long as two arms. He catches the girls with it and first plays with them, then he deflowers them and afterwards eats the bloodied, soft flesh between their legs.” “Oh dear. San Pedro must have been under Moorish rule longer than the rest of Spain.” Romano laughed out loud. “I know who invented the story of that monster and it did exactly what it was supposed to—keep people away from the property. The only devils on that peninsula would be my friends and

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J.J. Doulton myself spending our summer vacation playing with ourselves.” “Can I become a devil?” Antonio lifted his eyebrows and looked expectantly at Romano. “Do you know the Forbes Villa? The one Juan and Ria look after while my friend is in the States?” “I sometimes help my father with work on the old house. Juan and Ria Sanches are my parents.” “Ola!” Romano couldn’t believe his luck. A pretty, young angel who knew where his bedroom was appeared just as he commenced his vacation. After he split up with Alex, his Russian playmate, he’d resolved himself to a summer of loneliness. Julio seemed out of reach for him once Gina was in the country and besides that, one high-altitude, passionate slip-up wouldn’t guarantee him Julio’s willingness into a long-term affair. Antonio sat opposite him while the train made its way through the hills of southern Spain toward San Pedro and he stared at him with openly lustful eyes. “Won’t your friends mind if I turn up unexpectedly? “I don’t think so—it means they don’t have to entertain me.” Romano replied with a wry grin. The rest of the train journey from Aldorra to San Pedro they spent without much conversation. The train only consisted of one small red steam locomotive, the sort one would have found in a toy-train set, and two carriages that travelled on buckled and bent narrow gauge tracks. Both Romano and Antonio, weary from the journey in the night train, dozed with their heads against the backrest and let the scenery flit past their

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Toreador's Embrace eyes in slow motion—sleep was impossible. The train headed east into the rugged and desolate Costa Aldorra—toward San Pedro. This was an arid desert landscape and the annual rainfall only amounted to less than 200mm. It was sparsely populated with few villages. Romano knew his Andalucia well. San Pedro appeared and the officious looking, uniformed conductor announced the end of the line. “I’ll see you soon.” Romano encouraged his newlyfound lover with a fleeting touch to the young man’s lips and headed for the bar across the street from the railway station. He pulled out his phone and dialled Julio’s number. *** Gina answered Julio’s phone while he was in the shower to pamper his hot and sweaty skin. Summers in Spain were hot—even more so if the partner one was with was in heat as well. “I’ll pick you up. Yes, I know the bar across the road from the railway station. I’ll meet you there in about forty minutes.” She closed Julio’s phone and slipped into a loose dress and grabbed Julio’s keys from the dresser. She was quite excited about Romano. The grey eyes under his light brown hair that fell over his eyebrows always looked so cheeky. The old-fashioned kiss-curl gave him the rebel look from the ‘fifties Hollywood era. His well-muscled body was always tanned but never too dark. He

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J.J. Doulton dressed well and provocatively displayed his homosexuality. “That was Romano. He’s in San Pedro. I’ll go and pick him up in your machine.” “I’ll put the drinks on ice.” Julio’s hand appeared from inside the running shower and it grabbed her by the blouse. She tried to resist, but his arm was stronger. He met her halfway inside the shower to kiss her and wet the front of her dress in the process. “Your headlights are on.” He joked at her raised nipples, clearly visible under the wet and flimsy fabric, and sheepishly squeezed them before she managed to escape. “It’ll dry in the hot wind.” She pulled herself away and left him to his shower. She turned the key and started the car. At the push of a button, the soft top receded and folded back. She put the scarf over her hair to keep it from becoming too tangled while driving. The hot air grabbed her flimsy dress and played with it, lifted if off her thighs and blew under it, ballooning the fabric and rushing past her breasts. Within a few minutes, her top was dry again. A nice day for a drive, she thought and a smile appeared on her face as she grabbed the stick to put it in gear. She left her hand on it and played with its phallic shape. Once she cleared the bends around the coastal hills, the open road straightened out. The heat haze shimmered over it and created the illusion that it led into heaven and oblivion. She kept her legs well apart and let the air turbulence play with her fanny. The hum of the engine issued subtle but discernible

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Toreador's Embrace enough vibrations and kept her cunt moist and taut. The landscape rushed past her and in no time at all, the small town appeared. Romano waited for her at the table under the huge tree that covered most of the restaurant’s garden setting. “Hello, goddess.” She rushed up to him and was greeted by a forceful and sensual embrace and a kiss that made her swoon. The waiter came to the table and they ordered two coffees. “Your kiss could fool any woman.” She teased him and coerced him to repeat the kiss. Her breasts pressed against his chest, and she rubbed her hard nipples against him. To Gina’s delight, his penis swelled as she pressed herself against it. But suddenly, her heart ached from something she hardly ever experienced in the past—jealousy—the images of Julio and him together in that mountain hut, rose like a screen between her and Romano. Was this the first time? Did Julio try to tell her something? Julio was the only person she could trust with anything in her life, regardless of the women who threw themselves at his feet—but Romano? Why give in to Romano now, after all these years? What was different this year? Panic rose and a lump settled in her throat. Romano grabbed her hand and with an intuition all his own, he kissed her palm, looking up at her and with his grey eyes sent the sensation of her doubts back to where they belonged—in the dark depths of her mind. But they didn’t disappear entirely. The coffee was served. She sat down opposite Romano but neither spoke for a while and after they

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J.J. Doulton had finished the coffee, he leant toward her and kissed her hand once again with his own brand of kiss, and strangely, her self-assurance returned. She felt silly for even believing that Julio could discard her for Romano, after all twenty-five years counted for more than that, didn’t they? He lit a cigarette and put it between her lips before he lit one for himself. She greedily inhaled the wicked aroma as they drove off and at a leisurely pace headed along the shoreline that was composed of sand dunes and saltpans. It was said to be the second largest wetland of Aldorra Province outside the delta of the Andrecco at the tip of Pene Verde De San Pedro. They approached the peninsula with its coast of jagged cliffs and small, hidden coves with white sandy beaches that formed part of Gina and Julio’s hideaway. She glanced over to Romano who concentrated on driving Julio’s Ferrari and with little regard to her previous dreads, her imagination began to play another one of her favourite fantasies. Slowly, her mind unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a chest that made her salivate—those nipples wanted to be sucked. Further down, the belt, the button, the zipper, the fly, his cock. She imagined it pulsating as she liberated it from its tight prison. It would have filled many an asshole to the hilt. That’s what she had in mind. He loves fucking ass and I’ve got one that wants to be fucked. That she knew about him and Julio in the mountain hut only intensified her fantasies. “What are you looking at?” Romano grinned and pulled her out of her musings as he looked in her direction out of the corner of his eyes.

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Toreador's Embrace “Nothing.” The grin had simply crawled onto her face without her doing and her voice had turned a high pitch. I know about you and Julio, she thought, but still didn’t say anything. “Julio told you then?” He asked with an even broader grin as if he had read her mind. “We have no secrets.” She evaded a direct answer and looked straight ahead again. Knowing about a secret without talking about it made it much more alluring, even if the others knew…that she knew… There was a pause and for a few seconds she took in the desolate-looking strangeness of the landscape on her side of the car. “We have one thing in common now.” Romano interrupted her thought process again. “What’s that?” She wasn’t quite sure what he meant. “Julio.” “But we’re not even.” Her competitive spirit quickly put his conquest in proportion with her past unsuccessful attempts at seducing him. “How so?” “You and me,” she intimated. “Keep trying, goddess.” He retorted with a deep, provocative voice and that was exactly what she intended to do. After years of trying he had finally succeeded in taking Julio. All the faceless women that Julio had to play with in her absence never bothered her, yet Romano managed to raise the green-eyed monster in her. What if Julio preferred him? her doubts returned briefly. The straight desert road forked off into the

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J.J. Doulton winding road that led them to her summer residence and required Romano’s attention. Vegetation was scarce along this stretch of coastline, but the Mendez and Forbes properties grew pockets of Pinsapo, the rare Spanish fir. Interspersed between the firs were small stands of wild olive, juniper and other trees commonly found all over the Mediterranean region. The boundary between the two properties was formed by the Andrecco River, along which willows, maples, elms, alders and other deciduous trees grew. Even cork oak graced the windy road that snaked its way down to Gina’s piece of paradise. Gina looked straight ahead but couldn’t take her mind off Romano’s body. The landscape whizzed past without her noticing and she could almost feel Romano’s hands on her. Her mind was well on its way to tricking her body into feeling him approach, touch her, ravish her. The memory of the kiss from before reverberated around every fibre and her chest heaved heavily under the imagined treatment Romano’s tongue gave her. His tongue was like magic and caressed every square inch of her skin. She was so ready she was about the explode and she closed her eyes for a moment. “I hope he’s got a drink on ice when we get there.” Romano’s voice ended her string of daydreams and she was grateful for the noise of the engine to drown out her moans. They passed the bridge which formed the turn-off to the Mendez ranch and a couple of minutes later, Romano parked Julio’s convertible under the canopy of the large, overhanging oak tree and closed the top. Gina was already on her way to

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Toreador's Embrace the house. She swayed her hips provocatively because she knew Romano watched her go up the steps, and heard him whistle after her. She smiled and blew him a kiss when she turned around. Julio greeted her with a firm grab on her peaches and pressed himself against her groin. Romano entered just after her with the luggage, and Julio smiled and turned to embrace his friend. Gina witnessed a kiss between the men that made her knees buckle. It seemed their tongues couldn’t get enough from each other. Romano playfully slid his hands down the back of Julio’s trousers. Gina simply stood and watched and the few seconds seemed like an eternity. Julio looked comfortable in the male embrace and for a short moment, the old green demon reared its ugly head once again. What’s Romano got that I haven’t got? But jealousy had never been her game—she knew what attracted her to Romano, from a woman’s perspective—the gay distance, the resistance to the opposite sex. Amazingly, a few seconds of intensive emotional activity within the conscious mind of one’s self accommodated an infinite array of arguments and counter arguments for and against one’s motivational thinking. Wouldn’t Julio be jealous of my conquests, whether he knew of them or not? If he wasn’t, then what right did she have to judge his sharing of intimacy with his boyhood friend? And there was the matter of the unsettled score between her and Romano, and Julio’s behaviour gave

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J.J. Doulton her the moral green light to seduce Romano by openly sharing Romano’s offering himself. “I know something you don’t know.” She stepped into the embrace and teased Romano. “What?” Romano released Julio and looked at her—his arm found its way around her waist and the three of them stood in the hallway, holding onto each other in a bond that she simply couldn’t fathom. “Julio is leaving you and I alone in this big house for a few days. There’s nowhere to hide for you.” “You’re not leaving me defenceless, Julio?” Romano couldn’t hold back his laughter, mocking her threat to seduce him. Julio looked sideways at Gina and replied as dryly as he could “We share everything, don’t we?” Instead of replying to Julio’s rhetorical question, she grabbed a handful of Romano’s sweaty hair and pulled his face down to hers—his kiss—she wanted his kiss while she was in the embrace of both men. “Drinks are on ice.” Julio whispered into her ear and she peeled herself out of the embrace. “It's been a long trip. I’ll freshen up before I join you.” Romano quickly said and headed upstairs. Gina called after him “Let me know when the bathroom is free,” and followed Julio into the bar. Her throat was dry and cried out for relief. Julio poured a glass of chilled champagne and handed it to her with a kiss. Quietly they enjoyed the cool drink together, sitting on the bar stools with the breeze flowing in through the French doors and out through the open windows on the other side of the villa. After a few minutes Romano did as she had asked. It was her

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Toreador's Embrace turn to rinse the dust and sweat off her from the trip into town. The cool, refreshing water ran down her body and washed away all traces of the hot dusty road. The moment before still lingered in her body’s every fibre. Her nipples hardened at the thought of two men who could make love to her at the same time. Two men at the same time, she repeated and arousal shot into the softness between her thighs. The fast-swelling flesh ached and she directed the spray of the showerhead into her cleft, satisfying the first, immediate wave of horniness. The flash of lightning and the following thunderclap interrupted her. She didn’t like thunderstorms—apart from her dislike of the noise and the flashes, they were also dangerous, especially in the shower. She hurried out of the bathroom and ran downstairs. Both men stood on the covered veranda and watched the storm approach. It had become dark very quickly as the clouds rolled in and covered the sun. A warm rush of air rolled ahead of the front, heavy with the fragrance of the thunderstorm. “She’s having an orgasm.” “Who?” Julio was puzzled by Romano’s statement “Mother Nature.” “Oh. Yes, I suppose it’s a good enough analogy. She’s entitled to it.” Gina overheard the conversation and joined the men but their voices were drowned out by a succession of rolling thunderclaps. Dark curtains of pouring rain moved across the

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J.J. Doulton landscape and very rapidly toward them. More and more of the horizon became engulfed in Mother Nature’s cum. Her spasms were very visible and very audible. Lightning was all around them; the deafening thunderclaps followed the flashes almost immediately. The hot wind gusts whipped rain into their faces, the smell of ozone, mixed with that of wet soil became intoxicating, invigorating. Water ran down her neck and into her cleavage. She had hurriedly thrown a towel around herself when she rushed out of the shower. It soaked up the little rivers that ran down between her boobs. The lightning and thunder moved away and became fainter. Romano laughed, threw his head back and walked out from under the veranda’s shelter. The rain had intensified but the wind had stopped. He was soaked in no time at all. A calm, warm summer rain blessed the earth. Julio followed him and Gina watched them from the veranda as they re-enacted boyhood games and very quickly became splashed with mud. She didn’t have the courage to follow them, join them and interrupt their innocent game and turn it into her own—a game to satisfy her own carnal lust, fuelled by her fantasies. Part of her urged on to let go—drop the towel and run out into the rain, enjoy their bodies and let them enjoy hers. But she held herself back and let only her mind wander. With her eyes, she undressed them and imagined the sensation when her busy, probing hands gave them all the attention they could wish for. She leant on the veranda post, and the warm and heavy rain

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Toreador's Embrace ran down her back into the crack of her buttocks and tickled her. Before her mind’s eye, two naked men faced her, two pricks were ready to hit and pulsated in her hands while the warm rain stimulated every inch of their bodies. She moved closer and pushed the men together and they obeyed their mistress. Romano laid his arm around Julio, who didn’t object to his caresses. She moved her body from side to side, alternated between two pricks while her hands guided them between her lips, past her clit— Romano’s, then Julio’s—back and forth while the rain kept falling. She moved away a step. The dirt under her feet had turned into mud, oozing up between her toes, and the sensuality of the feeling increased her arousal. Gina turned sideways; her back faced Romano and her bush, Julio. With one hand on her clit and the other on her round pussy, she invited both men to fuck her at the same time. The rain intensified. Four hands claimed a hold on Gina’s body. She relinquished all control over herself for the time being. She felt herself lifted off her feet as the men closed in. Her legs were spread wide and she was lowered slowly to have one cock enter her anus and one her vagina. She could hear herself scream as the sensation was almost too much to bear, but the arms that held her were made from steel—she was trapped. They moved, slowly, deliberately and filled her ears with their coarse and horny male voices like they filled her body with their fucking cocks. The rain filled her eyes and she closed them. Four hands fondled Gina’s tits and squeezed them,

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J.J. Doulton and four hands roughed through her bush. Probing fingers explored her lips and tongue and let her suck. Her hair clung to her face, and mud splashed up onto her skin from the heavy raindrops of the summer storm. She felt it come with a rush as the waves of explosions shook her entire body and the cum refused to abate while both cocks pumped her mercilessly. With each thrust, a new miniature orgasm thundered its way through her and she howled her release into the heavy summer rain. She drowned in the men’s voices as they filled her ears with their untamed cries of lust of their own. Suddenly, Gina realised that the boys had stopped playing and kneeled in the mud, face against face. The rain still fell and, thankfully, the veranda post held her upright as she watched Romano steal another kiss from Julio. Her knees, already weak from her own mind game, gave in and she sat on the top of the veranda steps. This time Julio backed off, not giving as freely as before, and stood up, pulling Romano with him. The rain still fell when the billowing clouds allowed the golden rays of the setting sun to pierce them and bathe the muddy figures in the gentle light. A myriad of rainbow flashes filled the air as the droplets of the last showers danced magically on the streaks of the day’s last light over Andalucia. She looked up over the tip of the peninsula and saw the most breathtaking rainbow she’d seen in a long while—a sign of things to come?

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Toreador's Embrace *** “I’ve organised to fly directly to Morocco from El Semalqui. You’ll have to come to the airport with me early in the morning and take the machine back. I know you’ll enjoy driving it.” The meaning of the grin on Julio’s face was only too obvious. The summer storm had left fresh air behind and the dusty heat haze had been replaced by a clarity that unveiled more stars than ordinarily. After a quiet dinner the men and Gina had retreated to the small balcony just off her bedroom to enjoy a cold drink before the night’s rest. A refreshing breeze blew up from the water. *** The alarm clock rang, and Gina opened her eyes to check the time. Julio’s plane was to leave in two hours. It was seven o’clock in the morning when they drove to the airstrip in his red convertible, while Romano slept in. After watching Julio’s plane take off, Gina drove to Aldorra. The gear stick in her hand had the desired effect. She relished the pangs of the swelling flesh in her crack. She had arranged to spend the day with two of her Spanish girl friends, Louisa and Margarita and intended to spoil herself. The hairdresser in the

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J.J. Doulton salon on the main road always cut her hair to perfection, and the beautician would be offended if she didn’t have her nails done at the same time. Gina headed for the tapas bar where she was to meet with the girls. She entered, sat down at a table in the window corner and glanced around the establishment. She was the only guest and a look at her wristwatch told her that she was almost an hour early for the get together with her girlfriends. She ordered a coffee and while the waiter poured it, she went back to the car to fetch her book. ‘Ana’s Future’, a desperate paradise of paradoxes, kept bemusing her. Jack smiled through Max’s machine. He looked gaunt. “Good to see you one more time, Ana!” His voice sounded tired with an undertone of regret. “What do you mean, one more time, Jack?” Max asks into the microphone. “I won’t be visiting you anymore, Max. I am defeated. There is no food left. You know I can’t grow it myself—I don’t exist and all fields are occupied. If I want to eat, I have to bow to them.” “What are you up to?” Max asks. “I’ll have to join them, Max. Either that or I’ll starve to death.

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Toreador's Embrace My source of food has run dry. Mika’s cancer finished her off just in time.” Jack’s face took on an even darker expression. His daughter Mika had wasted away on her cancer and now Jack was on his own. Slaves didn’t possess anything. Especially not a computer that connected with the remnants of free people around the globe. His hideout had gone undetected thus far but only because his daughter always managed to gather food for him. She was part Asian and as such wasn’t subjected to the lowest of slavery, but slavery nonetheless. She worked in the kitchen of the local slave baron, as an overseer. Her father had erroneously been declared killed years ago and she had never corrected that mistake and kept him hidden. She shared her conviction with her father, the vision of a world free from oppression but could never voice her thoughts to anyone else but him. Max had met her once or twice on his machine when Jack and him talked. “How are you going to explain your existence? You’re supposed

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J.J. Doulton to have died years ago!” Max was bemused which seemed an emotion out of place in the dire situation Jack found himself. Jack conjured up a laugh “You don’t seriously think I will try and explain that one, do you?” “They’d soon enough make the facts fit the figures if you did.” Max was concerned about his friend but had no suggestions for him. Jack was about to join the many of Max’s friends who, in recent times, had vanished from his machine. Jack said that the barons didn’t really have an efficient identification system. To them, non-Asiatic people all looked alike and Jack seemed to be confident that he could slip into their slave machinery without much fuss. His only problem was his age. How did he explain that he was older than the normal forty or fifty years of age? The door to the bar opened and she registered another patron enter and sit down, although she didn’t look up from the page. A deep, purring voice halted Ana’s story in an exploding instant “Buenos días. Sangria, por favor.” Then she saw him…and almost forgot to breathe. Her heart throbbed in her throat and almost choked

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Toreador's Embrace her as she stared at the new guest. Gina guessed him to be six feet eight inches tall, as black as the ace of spades with a thick, shoulder length mob of reggae tassels that framed his symmetrically chiselled face. There was no ponytail holding the tassels back this time. The blue-tinged white of his eyes was in stark contrast to his black skin. His faint smile greeted her and his seductive lips revealed a perfect row of snowwhite, strong teeth. Moses! He had obviously recognised her and didn’t hide the fact that he was pleased about her presence. He had started to undress her with his eyes from the moment she had lifted hers out of her book and into his face. His gaze wandered from her eyes to her mouth—his tongue slowly wet his lips—then followed her sleek neckline down to her tits. There he paused and slowly caressed his own nipples through his shirt with the tip of his fingers. Gina felt hers contract and harden. Then his hands slithered down his torso while his eyes took the same route on Gina’s body. He cupped the tightening spot on his jeans with huge hands that sent shivers through her body just by watching them. Those long and sinewy fingers would be able to fill her vagina so gloriously deep, the thought of it alone brought her to near collapse. She never took her eyes off the black giant of a man on the other side of the room but caught a movement outside the window and spotted her girlfriends approach the cafeteria. She could hear them laugh and giggle as they walked past Julio’s red convertible. The top was down, and the gear stick in plain view.

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J.J. Doulton Louisa and Margarita entered and took possession of her and she reciprocated kissing and embracing her girlfriends. “Julio certainly makes you glow, Gina.” Louisa remarked with a giggle in her voice. “He made sure you know whose toy you’re supposed to use when he is away.” Margarita alluded to the non-standard equipment in the convertible. “It comes close to the real thing, I was told.” Gina replied with a soft undertone and a sideways glance at the far table. But the seat was empty. Moses had disappeared without a trace for the second time. She began to think that maybe she had invented him— like an invisible figure, a figment of her imagination. She put a few coins on the table. “Lets get out of here. We have a duty to spoil ourselves today.” Gina spent most of the day in a dreamy haze—the image of Moses right in front of her—and late afternoon found herself together with Louisa and Margarita, shopping for sexy lingerie: satin freetraders, g-strings that weren’t meant to conceal anything and pieces of lace with the sole purpose to stimulate a cunt with each step. The girls rewarded themselves with a collection of the most daring pieces. Gina couldn’t help herself. She went to the change room and put her new satin crotchless piece on. Her fingers parted the fabric and the gap between the lace revealed her entire genitalia, from the clitoris to the date. Big enough to accommodate his black monster, she thought with some regret. She re-joined the girls. With every step she took, the lace-covered satin fabric rubbed between her fleshy lips and sent quivers through her entire body.

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Toreador's Embrace Before long, droplets from her vagina collected on her thighs. Her nipples had remained stiff since they were touched by his eyes this morning. Gina was so horny she didn’t know where to turn. Dinner and some wine, together with girl’s talk and giggles, distracted her for a while. Louisa asked Gina whether Julio would bring her to the Feria de la Virgen del Mar in Aldorra later in the month. One of the toreros at the bullfight was her beau. Gina had attended the festivities in honour of the Virgin of the Sea almost every year, and didn’t want to miss them this year, either. Dusk crept through the town of Aldorra and the girls said their goodbyes. Gina headed for the car and walked slowly so she received the full benefit of her lacy black satin wear, and by the time her friends were out of sight, all she could think of was fucking the black stallion. She deliberately increased the effects of the lace around her cunt and clenched the fabric between her buttocks. The dusk grew progressively eerie as she walked through the back streets. Julio’s car was parked where she’d left it in the morning. It wasn’t far but she had to walk a couple of streets. She took a shortcut through the dark, narrow alleys between the old houses—few lights illuminated them. Soon she was surrounded only by the echo of her own footsteps. For a while that was all she heard, then, out of the dark, her imagination allowed her to hear a second set of footsteps that resonated through the alley. Her heart raced and she increased her pace, trying to outrun her imaginary assailant. The footsteps came

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J.J. Doulton still closer. Slight panic dried out her throat as she ran and her breathing turned shallow and stressed. The footsteps closed in and she felt the hand of the attacker on her neck. He grabbed her platinum hair and yanked her around. She wanted to scream but his huge hand covered her mouth. The attacker pushed her backward against the only lamppost in this alley. Her legs shook and posed no barrier for the intruding hands. She moaned as she felt his fingers violate her vagina and as she looked up, she found herself trapped in the tight embrace of an attacker that she had silently wished for all day. She didn’t try to defend herself, the strength of his arms held her pinned against the cold, hard post. The dim light fell on his face and she recognised him from this morning. He slowly took his huge hand off her mouth. “You were willing to experience this black penis inside your prissy white cunt this morning, and now you will. Plenty of slime is telling me you can’t wait to accommodate my cock, baby.” With one swift, stabbing motion, he pushed two of his endless fingers up inside her. Gina’s mind took her back to the small coffee shop, legs open, cunt dripping. “I’ve been waiting for you the entire, long day. I thought I’d miss out—again.” Her head flung back in response to his stabs that reached all the way up inside her. “I followed you and your girlfriends since this morning.” “We did some shopping. I obviously made the right choice with my purchase—no hindrance for

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Toreador's Embrace your black prick—it's made for sudden encounters.” She was still breathless and her pelvis responded to his teasing with short, abrupt jerks. “Too small, I need more room to get to you.” With that, he grabbed the flimsy fabric and ripped the entire piece open from the back to the front lace. Renewed panic rose in her throat. How big is his penis? She wondered. She didn’t have to wait long. When he opened his jeans, they revealed the longest and largest cock she’d ever seen. Before she could think anything else, he’d grabbed her, lifted her off her feet and with legs spread wide to either side of his enormous frame, he lowered her onto him. She held onto the lamppost so she wouldn’t be entirely impaled…and whirled around with a start when she heard his purring voice behind her. “Too much sangria?” Her heart nearly jumped out from between her ribs, it beat that hard and fast. He had followed her after all. She had become so aroused with the lace fabric between her thighs and the fantasy about her black stud that she had hardly noticed that she had leant against the old lamppost. ”I think so. I felt a little unsteady. The old lamp post obviously stood in the right spot.” “This time there’s no phone call to interrupt our plans.” Moses came a step closer and wedged her in between his body and the steel of the post. Before she could find a reason to object, his lips and tongue had taken possession of her mouth. She explored his tongue with hers and found to her bewilderment that he wore a metal spike through his

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J.J. Doulton tongue. She withdrew as curiosity got the better of her—she’d never kissed someone who had a pierced tongue. He laughed “Wait until you get a taste of my dumbbell.” “Dumbbell?” She didn’t know what to make of that. “Ladies swear by it—its placement is designed to find and tickle that sweet G-spot,” he proudly and succinctly explained. “Where…?” Gina felt perplexed and speechless and he interrupted her hesitant question with his deep, rumbling, purring laugh. “Let me put it this way—if I had had a circumcision, I wouldn’t be able to wear it where I am wearing it.” “Oh! Didn’t it hurt?” She thought that question was harmless enough. “Lady!—Hurt? The pain was so intense for a week that I couldn’t wear a tent-sized pair of satin shorts, as even they would have been too tight. Pissing was a major effort in teeth clenching and aiming at the same time.” “Uh!” “I’d never seen myself so big before or after the precious metal improvement.” “Gold, is it?” “Platinum.” Gina managed to collect her wits again through this short conversation about pain and precious metals and to her relief, she also found that, after all, she was still wearing her lace-trimmed underwear

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Toreador's Embrace and didn’t have it ripped by her black assailant. “Where did you disappear to in the aeroplane, Moses?” She asked bemused. “Everyone calls me Mo. Allow me.” With that he evaded her question and, instead, collected her shopping bags from the pavement and accompanied her the rest of the way to her car. He opened the car door for her to get in and waited until she turned the key before heading off in the direction of town. Gina drove off, turned on the headlights and headed down the peninsula while she caressed the phallus gear stick. She didn’t like night driving and took it slow. A royal owl appeared and disappeared in and out of the car’s headlights. The ghostly, silvery shapes of wild olive and oak trees lined parts of the winding road and the Mediterranean sea shimmered in the silvery moon’s cold light. She passed the turn off to the bridge and entered the unsealed, winding part of the road. In fifteen minutes she would be home and pour herself a glass of Rioja. A shadowy figure appeared in the cone of the headlights on the side of the road. She thought she’d recognised the woman with the black curly hair, dark eyes and brows that almost met over the bridge of the nose, and stopped the car to back up, but there was no one. She shook her head and continued to drive. After only three bends the same figure stood on the side of the road again. This time she halted the car to offer the woman a lift, but the figure turned into an eerily shaped olive tree. Gina sweated and in her mind, listed all the food she had eaten during the day. Something caused her to hallucinate. She kept on

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J.J. Doulton driving and a third time, a ghostly female figure appeared on the side of the road just as she rounded the last bend into the Forbes estate grounds. This time she sped up and hurried past her, but on her third appearance the woman didn’t turn into a tree and Gina could see her in the rear vision mirror as she stepped onto the road and walked toward the house. Gina got out of the car and waited for her. The woman approached Gina and pointed to the house. Gina followed the direction in which the woman’s arm pointed and to her surprise looked straight at her own bedroom window. She turned around and asked “Who are you?” but the woman had vanished for the third time. Gina didn’t wait for a fourth time and ran inside her villa and for once locked the door behind her. She found an open bottle of Rioja—Romano obviously had company today—and helped herself to the remainder of its contents, still shaking from the ghostly experience on her night drive home. She took the second glass upstairs with her. Romano’s door was slightly open but there was no light. She tiptoed closer and saw Romano hug what she assumed was one of his lovers. She left them to it and retreated to her own bedroom. She crawled under the sheets and attempted to read a passage out of her book ‘Ana’s Future’ to calm herself but had a difficult time shaking the image of the woman on the side of the road. Michael was still asleep but I felt the need to walk on the shore; the breeze would cool my skin. I

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Toreador's Embrace found Leonard down on the water’s edge. He was sitting on a large rock looking toward the rising sun. I asked him about the things he told Michael. He told me how one morning he awoke with the firm belief that he wasn’t going to die at the predetermined age. He was about twenty-five years old at the time. Now he was fifty-nine. He was supposed to have died at the age of forty. “Was it your God who looked after you?” I asked him. He glanced at me sideways. “You could say that” he replied. I could feel that there was more to this answer than I could understand at this moment. In my head the question ‘what if this is possible?’ kept repeating. “It gave me the greatest thing in my life—Hope”. Leonard continued. Hope. What a strange word. “Hope?” I repeated. “What do you hope for?” “Not just for me” Leonard looked straight into my eyes “but everyone. The entire human race!” What was there to hope for? A painless death? Not having to starve while you waited to die or

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J.J. Doulton not having to labour as a slave somewhere? What other hope was there? The only thing I’d ever learned to hope for is enough food, shelter and a death without pain. Now Leonard spoke of hope for the entire human race. I did not have enough room in my head to hope for the entire human race. Leonard kept looking into my face. It felt as if he was searching for a commitment from me for something. I could not think clearly. Our lives were of predetermined length. Not like our grand parents’ lives. It was different then. I felt nauseous and dizzy. What was happening to me? Suddenly my pre-determined life seemed to explode into frightening fragments and one of those fragments was called hope. I felt my God connecting with Leonard’s. It was comforting, reassuring, understanding but at the same time a new, unknown reality that had crept into my head unleashed its force. We weren’t supposed to be like this. Max was right, this life was not normal. The realisation of the truth, that, what my mother wrote about in

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Toreador's Embrace her diaries and what was happening to me, Michael, our community and communities like ours was connected, one being the result of the other, was unbearable. What good was hope if it could not fulfil itself? My thoughts turned darker as another emotion snuck into my consciousness— betrayal. Suddenly I resented Leonard. Why was he describing a life without death when, in reality the planet itself was against us? Why upset and confuse us in our last years by telling us that we could live twice as long? We have made the best of our lives by helping one another to live comfortable and bearable in an environment which was very hostile. I could feel the tears fill up my eyes and roll down my face. Michael was younger than myself and his cancer hadn’t begun to move. A sense of abandonment engulfed me. Michael, what are you hiding from me? I didn’t want to hear any more of Leonard’s words. They were impossible to believe. I needed to hear from Michael if he believed.

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J.J. Doulton “Ana?” I heard Leonard call after me but I did not stop to turn around, I needed to speak to Michael. “Michael!” My voice choked with tears. “What happened?” “Do you have hope to survive beyond your expected life span?” This was all I could think of. “Leonard told me that he healed himself and that others can do the same and live longer. Is that why you talked to him so long yesterday? Do you want to leave me? Do you want to look for a mate who will not die when she is meant to?” The words just come flooding out of my mouth. “Come here!” Michael put his arms around me and despite my resentment, I felt protected in his embrace and my anguish eased somewhat. “I’m sorry I didn’t speak to you earlier. All your time was taken up looking after Kelab and I didn’t feel right to burden you with something of such importance.” Gina put the book on the bedside table, dimmed the light and took another sip of red wine. Eventually, her eyelids fell shut and she drifted off to sleep, the

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Toreador's Embrace light still on. She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep when the scream woke her with a start. It came from the direction of the staircase and she jumped out of bed and opened the door to investigate. But everything was quiet in the house except for the lustful moans that emanated from Romano’s chamber. It could only have been his lover, as she knew Romano’s voice. Yet she was still puzzled, the screams always sounded alike; they began with a sharp breath in followed by a hoarse and forcibly terminated cry in a female voice. This was the first time that Gina was able to put such detailed attributes to these screams. The more she thought about it, the less she believed it could have been an owl and she thought it even less likely that the angel in Romano’s arms was the owner of that voice. Hastily she retreated to her bed. In the dimmed light, her bedroom attained a menacing presence, but she managed to calm her mind and go back to sleep. She wasn’t asleep for long when she felt a hand on her throat. Strangely expecting the same scene with her father again, she was surprised when her nightmare took her into another direction. She watched from a distance as a monster put his hands around her throat and with the other forced her legs apart to make way for his attack. But she realised that the woman she watched being attacked wasn’t herself, but looked strangely like the ghostly apparition on the road earlier. Gina watched in horror as the monster took what he had no right to take. The demonic cock squeezed between the woman’s thighs

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J.J. Doulton and slithered forcefully inside her, repeatedly, before the woman managed to free herself sufficiently to scream and as she did, Gina also screamed. The woman disappeared and the assailant turned around to her with his intentions clearly written on his cruel and menacing face. His form seemed to grow larger and she screamed and kicked her legs out at him but to no avail, the monster kept advancing and while pinning her down, prepared to feast on her flesh. “Gina! Gina!” The monster knew her name and mocked her now. It laid his hand on her shoulder and shook her. “Gina, wake up! You’re having a nightmare.” Romano’s voice entered her consciousness and she opened her eyes and at the same time sucked in a lungful of air, as if she’d been under water too long. “Oh, God! Romano. You have no idea. There is something strange going on in this house. It frightens me. In my dream, he raped the woman after I spoke to her outside the house when I arrived from town and then he tried to eat me.” Gina’s chest still heaved with her fast and frantic breathing. “Shh … It was a nightmare, nothing more, Gina.” “I’m not going to stay in this room tonight, Romano. I’ll come over to yours for the rest of the night.” At that moment, she spotted the young man in the doorway and Romano followed her eyes. He introduced them and a grin appeared on the angel’s face from ear to ear. “I won’t get in the way, Romano.” She felt like a small child in need of protection and was grateful for not being left on her own.

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Toreador's Embrace “I’m sure there’s room for another body in my bed—take your pillow, I have only two.” He waited for Gina to follow him into the other bedroom. Once snuggled up against their bodies, she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep. Gina woke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. When she opened her eyes she found Romano stand by the foot of the bed with the breakfast tray in his hands and a huge grin from ear to ear. “Did you have a good time in town yesterday? How are the girls?” Girls? Oh, yes, she almost forgot about Louisa and Margarita. “We did indeed, thank you. The girls are great. Both wanted to know whether we could join them for the Feria de la Virgen del Mar in Aldorra. We went shopping for a few fashion pieces and I bought some delightful lingerie.” She used her most seductive voice when she told Romano about the underwear she’d bought and that it was still in the car. She had left it there after the fright the woman gave her. Romano was convinced that she had had too much to drink and that the Rioja had gone to her head. He said that the only monster he knew of in these parts was the one Antonio had mentioned, and it was well known in these parts. It was a huge devil with a prick as long as two arms and had been invented by Julio’s grandfather to deter trespassers. Gina looked around Romano’s room but couldn’t see him. “Where is he?” “Antonio has gone for a swim. He followed me home from the beach yesterday.” Romano sat down on the side of the bed and positioned the tray next to her with a silly grin on his face. “Just kidding, we met

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J.J. Doulton on the train. Antonio lives in San Pedro, he’s the son of Juan and Ria.” The thought of a stray following him home made her laugh at first but Romano’s revelation surprised her. “Juan and Ria never told me they had a son.” She sat up too fast and spilled some coffee into her cleavage. “Probably because he is gay. Not everyone around here can accept that.” Romano grabbed the napkin and wiped the drops from her neck. The sheets slipped and exposed her tits. He continued to carefully wipe away the traces of coffee between her breasts without touching them. She leant back and enjoyed Romano’s exploring eyes on her and his tender caress and set about seducing him in earnest. “Eat your breakfast.” Romano commanded her and backed off slowly. “I slaved over a hot stove in the kitchen for hours. Honour my cooking.” Gina looked over the tray. Toast, fruit and coffee? She lifted her eyes up at him from under her brows without lifting her head. “Did you have to pick the beans first?” She asked him with a growl, nearly chocking from suppressed laughter. “You’re just saving yourself for your new lover.” “He is delicious, Gina. You’d love him.” Romano replied passionately. “He’d have to match Moses.” She teased him. “Moses?” Gina told him about the encounter with Moses the day before in Aldorra. She noticed how Romano’s cock started to rise as she divulged the details of her fantasy and encounter in the dark alley, and

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Toreador's Embrace continued to add subtle moves to embellish her words. That in turn resulted in her, too, becoming horny again. When she reached the point of telling Romano about Mo’s body piercing, especially the dumbbell in his cock, he interrupted her. “Oh, the pain would have been gorgeously intense. I should have the courage…” With a sigh he cupped his hands over the bulge in his trousers in imaginary pain. “It’s placed right behind the head, where it meets the seam of skin. I’ll show you.” She motioned for him to come closer. He obeyed and she opened the restricting jeans to free his bit of hard. “It’s placed right here.” She stroked the corresponding spot behind the head of his throbbing penis. He moaned with delight at her touch. “He told me that after the piercing he had a hard on for over a week because of the pain.” Gina watched Romano squirm at the mere thought of a hard on for such a long time and his hand closed around his cock. Neither noticed Antonio in the doorway, who hid and watched them. Gina was about to even the score.

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Part Two: Virgen Del Mar

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Chapter Five: Encierro

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ntonio walked through the door, seemingly just coming back from his swim when Gina and Romano walked downstairs. Romano put his arms around Antonio and grabbed his buttocks with both hands to squeeze them, but Antonio looked over Romano’s shoulder and Gina caught a glimpse of his probing eyes. He knows, flashed through her mind, but it didn’t bother her, and she left them to it and made her way down to the beach for a refreshing dip in the gently lapping waters. She didn’t hear Antonio’s reply to Romano’s greeting. Her mind was still on her conquest, and quietly she smiled at her dare and indulged in re-living it for the sheer pleasure of having gotten even with him and Julio. She’d sat on the edge of the bed with both feet planted wide apart on the floor, her head just in the right position to comfortably play with her tongue around Romano’s penis. She’d collected some of her juices that she smeared onto Romano’s backslit and,

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J.J. Doulton without warning, pushed inside him with her fingers. He moaned and told her that not only was she the first women he’d ever fucked but also the first female ever to enter him. “Your fingers are exquisite and your mouth is sending me crazy.” She took a deep breath and dove under a gently rolling wave, delighting in the weightlessness and stillness that the underwater environment offered her. She thought of Romano’s fingers that had explored her face and neck, the shape of her ears, pulled her close by her soft hair and wrapped it around his bit of hard. He had held the strands in place and gently moved them along his shank—the touch of her silken hair had made him tremble. She surfaced for air and drifted for a while on her back, gently being rocked by the softness of the shallow bay water. The pang shot through her belly without warning as her body remembered when Romano entered her. It made her twitch and she turned to take another dive into the stillness of the sea. She had retreated her lips from Romano’s cock and had stood up to press her belly against his and her tits against his heaving chest. Slowly she had raised one leg, rubbed her heel against the back of Romano’s legs, until Romano’s cock was in the right position and poised, ready to enter her. She had expected more resistance from the gay man, but he had surprised her by enjoying the game between them and obligingly directing her moves. With his hands on her hips he had slid his cock back and forth along her cunt and the wet noises still sounded in her ears. Her heart thumped with the excitement of reliving the first thrust of his piece

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Toreador's Embrace inside her. He had turned her and pushed her forward onto the bed where she offered her hot and waiting cunt to him. He slowly, gently entered her and she heard him groan. Her fingertips played with her clit as her face was buried in the pillow. She screamed her victory into the fabric as Romano thrust his rhythm into her, slow at first, then faster and faster. She felt him pump his juice up from his depth and with a series of unrestrained jerks from his groin filled her with his male fluid. Gina surfaced with a gasp and a cry, the same cry that she cried into her pillow when she evened the score and climaxed. She took her time and swam out in the direction of the old landing, but the distance was too far from this end of the beach and she turned to head back. The cool water caressed her breasts, belly, thighs and her soft cleft between her legs. Floating completely naked in the salty ocean water felt deliciously free. Gina climbed back up the rocky steps and couldn’t help but wonder whether the house would look as menacing again as it did when Julio and her returned from their swim, but everything appeared normal. She crossed the grass, entered through the French doors and went upstairs to rinse the salt off her skin with a cool shower. When she left the bathroom, she noticed that the door to her exercise room was open and went to investigate. She pushed the door open and froze on the spot. Romano and Antonio had obviously found the press bench to be an ideal implement for their play. “Romano!” She heard Antonio cry with so much

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J.J. Doulton lust it sent her own blood back into her soft flesh to swell it once again. “Easy.” She heard Romano whisper and watched as he calmed the young man and continued to push. She watched Romano’s strong arms slowly lift him off the bench onto his prick to push inside. Antonio arched his back to accommodate his lover. Romano closed his fist around Antonio’s cock and pumped it tightly, kissing Antonio on his shoulders and neck. Then Romano grabbed Antonio’s hands and placed them on the throbbing penis and, with his own hands, clenched down on the young lover’s pelvis and directed it to stimulate himself with Antonio’s willing body. Gina watched them explode and their bodies writhe with relief. Romano held his young angel tight and waited for him to quieten before he released him. Antonio turned his head to look at Romano when he looked in her direction. Romano followed his gaze and a broad grin appeared on his face. “Would you like a drink?” Gina asked the men and her dry, croaky voice sounded alien to her. “Yes, my goddess, a drink is in order.” Romano taunted her and reached for the pack of cigarettes nearby. He pulled one out and placed it between Antonio’s lips before he grabbed one himself. Then he lit them both. She turned and stepped away, but through the open door heard Romano ask Antonio “Do you know where I can get body piercing done around here?” “Body piercing? I know of someone in Aldorra. She is good, I was told.” Antonio’s voice replied. “She?”

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Toreador's Embrace “She’s French.” “Moses has a dumbbell in his cock and a spike in his tongue. Gina swore she’d never been tickled like that.” She heard Romano embellish her story and felt a grin appear on her face. She wasn’t about to correct him. “That’s all right for a woman, but I wouldn’t want to hold still.” Gina detected a distinct note of apprehension in Antonio’s voice and found herself quietly agreeing with him. “I can’t imagine the pain. He had a hard on for a week, she said.” Romano’s voice faded away and Gina couldn’t hear anything else as she descended the stairs and walked to the bar. She knew now that Romano had found a new lover and he would be preoccupied most of the time. She prepared three drinks, left one downstairs and brought two to the lovers upstairs into the exercise room being greeted by Romano’s audacious grin and Antonio’s coy shyness, then returned to the bar and made herself comfortable on her favourite chair. From here she overlooked the far tip of the peninsula, where the old landing stood forlorn in the water, hidden from the villa’s view by a land spit. Her book was still where she left it the night after her nightmare. She picked it up again, leant back with a satisfied sigh, took a sip from her drink and turned the page. I felt lucky; I was one of the few people who still had a birthday. Most had no birthdays anymore because they simply didn’t know

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J.J. Doulton when they were born. It was my birthday; I was 46 years of age. That’s why Michael, Max and Samuel were going fishing, so that we could prepare for a birthday feast. I shared my birthday, and of course the food, with everybody else. Gina looked up from her book and looked into the distance. In two days' time would be her and Julio’s birthdays. She’d already wrapped his gift before she had left L.A. It was still hidden in the back of her bedside table. What has he got for me this year? She wondered. He always found something unusual, something that would forever remind her of that particular August vacation. She lowered her head and continued reading. “Max!” Tem got up and ran down the hill toward the group of the three men walking along the shore toward us. Tem liked Max; he always brought something for her to play with. As she met up with the men they stopped and Max held one of his arms behind his back. Tem was trying to get around him to see what it was. He asked her to close her eyes “ … and don’t cheat!” He held his hands out in front of him and prompted her to open her eyes now. “Oh!” I could hear her

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Toreador's Embrace exclaim in admiration of what he had bought for her. He stroked her soft hair as she said thank you. “Mum, look what Max brought me!” With that she turned on her heels and ran back up to our gathering. She proudly showed everyone her new toys. They were six small white and grey uneven balls that shone like the insides of shells. “Once upon a time, one single pearl would have traded for many, many fish and fed everyone for many weeks. Today, they are perfect for Tem to play with. Pretty marbles—happy birthday.” With this, Max handed me something wrapped in a small piece of black cloth. I unwrapped it and found one of those marbles. But this one was bigger than Tem’s, and perfectly round and of perfect even colouring. It glowed from the inside. It was a happy day and there was more then enough fish; there would be plenty of fish for tomorrow. I wrapped my pearl safely in its black cloth and placed it next to the diaries in the stainless steel box.

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J.J. Doulton *** “Happy Birthday!” Julio handed her a very small birthday present. It was the 24 August. They had never celebrated their birthdays apart since they met when they were children. “What is it?” Gina wanted to know. She admired the cutely wrapped small present that Julio brought back from his business trip to Morocco. Its scent was decidedly oriental. He had only returned late last night. Today, the day before the bullfight, was their birthdays and like every year, each one had thought of something special or outrageous to get the other for birthday. She had hidden his when he wasn’t in the room and reached under the cushion on the couch, found it and pulled it out. She had a replica of his Ferrari, the red F355 F1 convertible, made especially. It was only three inches long but of solid gold. However, she did not know about the gear stick when he told her what he had bought himself a few weeks back, and the replica only showed the standard equipment. “Happy Birthday!” She handed him the heavy little package wrapped in dark green paper and tied with silver ribbons. Julio collected miniature cars with a difference; only solid gold models made it into his cabinet, or so he told everyone. Gina knew that he cherished his old, beaten up and rusty miniature toy cars from his childhood much more than he let on. “Ah! A one-off!” He smiled admiringly after he tore the paper open. The wheels rolled and moved

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Toreador's Embrace when he rotated the steering wheel. The bonnet lifted and even the top opened and closed and he delighted in it like she knew he would. She found herself pulled into his embrace and he kissed her, passionately, squeezed her ass with the free hand and whispered “My collection thanks you. Now open yours, then ask me what it's for,” he mysteriously replied to her earlier question. The black and red wrap came off quickly to reveal a small red velvet box with a small golden latch. She admired it for a while without opening it. Jewellery. Necklace? Earrings? Bracelet? She played the guessing game in her head, then smiled, returned his kiss, “Thank you,” and opened the lid to the box. It revealed a gold link chain and a small gold charm of about two centimetres in length. She recognised at once what it depicted and giggled with delight. A small erect phallus with its accompaniment, symmetrically grouped in a T-shape. “A pendant. Very daring—I love it.” “Now ask me what it's for.” He prompted her. “It’s a necklace.” “That, too. One can get phallic symbols in all sorts of shapes and sizes in all sorts of bazaars, but this particular shape…well, you have to know people who know people to get one of those.” Utterly intrigued she looked at him “Tell me, then.” She teased him. “Show, not tell. I have to show you what it’s for.” With that he took her by the hand and led her upstairs. She followed, curious at what Julio had in mind. Once inside her bedroom he turned to her and

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J.J. Doulton slowly, gently, undressed her. She couldn’t possibly guess what the tiny gold charm had to do with undressing, but obeyed his every move. He took the small piece of jewellery, put it in his mouth and held it between his lips. He pulled her Gstring off her legs and lifted her up, carried her over to her bed and laid her down. Then he grabbed her legs and opened them as wide as her body would allow. She watched him take his own clothes off and lay down between her legs, within kissing distance to her cunt. Gina propped herself up on her elbows to witness the goings-on. Julio gently spread her lips and took the gold phallus from his mouth. He held it by its balls between the tips of his fingers and with its tip caressed her clit; the tiny gold sculpture sent delicate sensations through her body. But then he slid it away from the clit, downward toward her cunt and just before he reached it, he paused. She was aroused and beautifully wet, and his tongue licked up some of the gorgeous juice. To her surprise, she felt the tiny golden cock gently ease its way into her pee hole. The sensation was unlike any she’d experienced since Julio deflowered her all those years ago—it felt like the very first time Julio made love to her. The little charm slid in as far as its balls would allow, but that was all that was required. Julio rotated it with a minute twist and the most delicate and piquant flavour emanated from that spot and surged through her body. She felt his delightful tongue on her clit and at the same time, the tiny movement of her new toy inside that small opening and her body swept away in a torrent of

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Toreador's Embrace acute reverberations into an explosion she could only liken to that of fireworks in a night sky. When she was able to open her eyes again, she looked at Julio in amazement as he explained what it was that she had just experienced. “There aren’t many western women who get to experience the pleasure of this little gem. It is usually reserved for circumcised wenches. I know of only one goldsmith in Melilla who creates them—and I had to grease his palms quite considerably. It is prohibited to disclose the secret, let alone have an infidel have one. It is made to an exacting measurement—any longer or fatter and it would be dangerous. Circumcision removes only the small outer, visible pod that is part of the large internal organ, which from then on can only be reached by the women with such a pocopene. The men never have the benefit of their women’s pleasure. Pity.” Julio handed the small gold charm back to Gina. “You are the only one who should handle it from now on. It’s too delicate for a man’s hand.” He continued to talk about his business trip for I.M.E. to Spanish territory Melilla in Morocco. It had concluded successfully and ahead of time, and he went to look for a special birthday present for her when one of the company’s associates took him out on the town to a brothel. He found a pretty young woman who seemed out of place in the establishment and he bought her for a couple of hours. His associate found himself a girl that he liked and they followed their whores into their dark rooms. When Julio undressed the young woman, she immediately turned

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J.J. Doulton her back to him and bent forward for him to fuck her from behind, but when he made her face him again she cupped her hands over her bush. He took her hands away and had a close look at her and that’s when he saw the scars. He asked what it was like and how she’d achieve arousal and orgasm without her clitoris and she showed him her gold charm and how it was used. She also told him the name of the goldsmith—after much coaxing from Julio—who had made it for her and that he had many clients. Gina took her precious gold charm into her fingers and did like Julio had showed her; slowly she circled her clit with the new toy, then slid it down along her crevice fingering for the small opening to her peehole. She found it all right and slowly slid the gold cock inside it, gently rotating it while another finger fuelled her arousal on her clit. She felt Julio’s fingers play around and inside her cunt, stroke the flesh and spread her juice from her round pussy to her clit. His tongue followed his fingers and she found her entire being saturated with delicate and soft sensations. Julio found her favourite spot inside her and nudged her flesh into surrender. She had no control over any part of her body and her cum was once more so exquisite that little shrieks of delight escaped her. He pulled the gold phallus out of her with his mouth and moved his body closer. “My turn.” He whispered and Gina felt him slide inside her with a long and hard prick that turned her into the most willing toy of his own. “Julio.” She whispered, utterly at his mercy. The gliding sensation of his cock along her moist

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Toreador's Embrace flesh sent quivers of raw delight through her belly, down her legs and into her feet as well as along the spine and into her breasts and her head, causing her world to spin. Julio had one hand behind her buttocks, to ensure full and lasting penetration, and one on her tits, to massage the soft flesh between his fingers in the rhythm of his thrusts and her moans. She arched her back as far as she could to feel him as deep inside as possible and wished he’d fuck her through the entire night. She loved his command over his urges that enabled him to raise his bit of hard again after he had filled her once, even twice. He turned her around and slid his hands under her belly and between her legs, then gently squeezed her clit between his fingers. She saw a million stars when her rage dissolved again and she milked Julio into spouting his semen into her waiting flesh. He kissed her neck and shoulders, caressed her tits and remained inside her. He kept her still and demanded to know every little detail of the games she’d been up to while he was away in Morocco and she obliged, volunteering how she got even with Romano. The satisfaction of her own conquest fuelled her renewed arousal and the intimate details had the desired effect on Julio. She felt him grow big again while still inside her. For the longest time he held her in that position, fucked her, grabbed her tits and played with them, and confessed to her in between deep gasps for air “You are and always have been my best fuck.” Neither of them moved much, the sensations that coursed through their bellies were enough and both climaxed

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J.J. Doulton perfectly and in unison. He collapsed next to her body that still shook and all she wanted now was to curl up beside him and sleep in his arms for the rest of her life. He smiled at her whispered wish and willingly obliged. His warm and sticky naked body felt so deliciously inviting that she fell asleep as soon as he lay beside her. The last thing she remembered was Julio pulling the sheets over their bodies and following her into her dreams— no monsters invaded them and she slept wonderfully deep and peaceful. She opened her eyes on Sunday morning when she felt Julio release her and get up. She turned and watched his well-built body move through the room. He looked back at her and his smile warmed her. “Buenos días.” “Good morning, lover.” She smiled back and gorged herself on his physique, so willingly on display for her, and peeled herself out of the sheets to stretch in front of the open window, showing to the universe how satisfied her body felt, then turned and sneaked up on Julio who fingered through the wardrobe to find the appropriate suit for the occasion of the Feria. She wrapped her arms around his chest and murmured her approval in his ear at the one he rested his index finger on. He picked the traditional bull rancher’s suit he was to wear in Aldorra from the wardrobe and laid it out over the chair. She followed him to the shower and enjoyed having her body gently washed and pampered by the man she believed she had desired since before she was born—her fingers played with

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Toreador's Embrace the golden charm that hung around her neck. His tongue snaked into her ears between horny whispers, and rewarded her with his prick slithering between her swollen lips toward her refreshed and ready cunt. But he left her wanting for more as he teasingly retreated and laughed at her feigned disappointment. He turned off the water and handed her a towel “Tonight…“ Gina took the low-cut red, black and gold dress from the wardrobe, the one that she had made in the style of the traditional flamenco dress. Her breasts nestled, barely covered, in the shaped and laced-up body piece, and the tailored wavy skirt comfortably sat on her belly and buttocks. Since the fabric almost reached to her ankles, she had decided not to wear any underwear. “I love your jewellery, Gina.” Romano complemented her and whistled a wolf-whistle as she walked down the stairs. She grinned—he didn’t know the gold pendant and the decorative pin in her hair was all she wore aside from the dress. Antonio had made himself useful in the kitchen and with the help of Romano had produced a plethora of delectable breakfast foods. During the meal, the four of them discussed and organised transport. Julio’s red Ferrari only seated two comfortably, whereby her Audi would take four of them, however, Romano and Antonio intended to run in the encierro through Aldorra’s streets and after the running with the bulls, had made plans that didn’t include Gina or Julio, but remained secretive about them. Gina handed the two lover-boys her keys to the

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J.J. Doulton Audi and asked them to park it at the back of Louisa’s apartment because Julio would join Eduardo with the bulls and Gina was to meet Louisa and Margarita and needed her own transport at the day’s end. Romano and Antonio planned to stay in Aldorra over night with friends of Antonio's to enjoy the nightlife. They left shortly after breakfast. “We have a big and strong bull in the ring today. Eduardo is proud of the animal.” Julio explained. Gina never really cared for the blood sport, but once she entered the atmosphere at the plaza de toros, the crowd’s fervour had always managed to drag her into the excitement. Most of the time, however, she found other distractions that gave her more pleasure than witness the cruel and bloody spectacle. The early morning promised to grow into a hot and dry day with only a slight breeze from the water. Gina enjoyed the scenery on the way through San Pedro and on to Aldorra. The forty-minute drive from her villa led past some of the most lush river vegetation on the peninsula but, once they left San Pedro behind, changed into the lunar-like desert landscape, for which this corner of Spain was famous. The Algadora, an Arab fortress that was built by Abd’er Sulman during the times of Moorish rule, only rivalled in size by the Alhambra in Granada, came into view. Looming behind was the Sierra de Gador. Aldorra, like so much of Spain, had a history of invasion and counter-invasion suffered at the hands of all sorts of foreign forces, Gina recalled her Spanish history lessons from years ago. In times of war, the Algadora could hold more than 20,000 men. She had

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Toreador's Embrace been up to the fortress several times and had enjoyed the view over the city and its famous cave quarters. The cathedral gave witness to the varying influences that had shaped Spain with its Gothic style construction and renaissance façade. Its fortifications and the corners that once held canons were justified, since it was built during a time when the southern Mediterranean was terrorised by the raids of Barbarossa and other Turkish and North African pirate forces. Julio’s voice pulled her out of her musing about Spain’s colourful past “I might see you and the girls at the plaza de toros just before noon.” Gina nodded. “I don’t want to miss your bull,” and smiled at him. He looked delectable in his traditional ranchero outfit. They arrived behind Louisa’s apartment after skirting around the streets already choked with onlookers, and most of them closed off to traffic. Louisa lived near the Plaza de Andalucia, with the bells of the church of San Tomaso telling her the time of day, and had a perfect vantage point from the first floor apartment onto the street where the bulls were to run. Julio got out and came around to her side to open the door for her. She smiled at him and offered her hand, which he took and elegantly assisted her out of the convertible. Playfully she swung her skirt just that little too high and ensured he caught a glimpse of her bush. He grinned at her and just as playfully, kissed the back of her hand. “Gina!” The sound of Louisa’s voice came from the courtyard and the black haired Spanish beauty with

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J.J. Doulton fiery eyes came to greet them. “Julio!” She first embraced Gina and took a sideways glance into Julio’s convertible to check the gear stick. It was a great conversation piece and Gina whispered into Louisa’s ear when they embraced, “It comes off.” When Louisa embraced Julio, Gina saw his hands squeeze her buttocks lightly as he pressed her against his body. She giggled and blushed and when he released her she pretended to seek refuge behind Gina from his advances. Gina looked deep into his eyes and received a look that told her to be ready for him. He kissed her with a most passionate, unmistakably lustful kiss and his tongue pushed into her mouth like his cock would into her cunt, before he sat back behind the wheel of his Ferrari and drove off with much revving. “He’s hot.” Louisa stated the obvious. “Margarita and the others are already inside, come. Romano gave me the keys to your car, here.” She handed Gina her car keys and led the way to her apartment. The Audi was safely parked close to the house on the cobbled courtyard. The building in which Louisa lived was one of only a handful in this area not to have been bombed out during the war and still contained much of the old features. The stone steps in the narrow and winding staircase were thoroughly worn, and Moorish-influenced tile mosaics adorned the floors. Flowerpots and boxes lent a romantic and colourful appearance to the house. The render on the thick stone walls had been painted white, with green and blue accents on the cornerstones and the lintels. It

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Toreador's Embrace wasn’t far to Aldorra’s rambla from here, the promenade with its monolith, the palm trees and water features where Spain's most beloved pastime was indulged every night—parading—to show off oneself and eye the other paraders. They arrived on the first floor and were greeted by Margarita, who introduced Gina to their other friends, five in all, four of them handsome and strong Spanish muchachos and another girl by the name of Rosa. The young men’s names didn’t register with Gina because she was busy undressing them with her eyes. There was plenty of sangria available, and Gina helped herself to a glass. The noise of the throng in the street below filled Louisa’s lounge room and everyone gravitated toward the windows and waited for the bells to announce the start of the encierro while Gina got acquainted with the beau nearest to her. She wouldn’t have been able to readily tell any of those young men present apart even if she had remembered their names as all four muchachos endeavoured in all earnest to emulate John Travolta’s looks, hair style, mannerism and pout. The one of the four Travolta look-alikes who had obviously pegged her to be his for the morning, strutted his well-rehearsed stuff to impress her with his puffed chest and the tight little round arse. She caught a look from Louisa with a knowing wink and returned it and turned to the creature she called Pedro. She was surprised when he answered to it and figured she must have guessed the name right. She slid her pointed index finger from his chin along his throat, over his Adam’s apple down to the

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J.J. Doulton fashionably open frilled white shirt and continued down over his chest, opening further buttons as her hand progressed. She arrived at the hurdle of the belt and without hesitation grabbed it and pulled the elastic body toward her own. She felt his tension at the realisation that she wasn’t a girl easily impressed by peacock feathers and saw his face change from a superficial grin to a raw and sensuous expression accompanied by the sudden deepening of the black in his eyes. The signal rang out through the streets of Aldorra—the encierro had begun—and all of Louisa’s friends raced to take their place. Gina followed and leant over the windowsill and felt her beau lean over her to see. Everyone was preoccupied and jostled for the best position to view the spectacle as the crowd below cheered. Gina looked to her right, where the bulls were to appear—the mob spilled over onto the cobbled street despite the barriers. The first runners appeared, like pieces of white foam thrown ahead of the closely following wave. A tidal wave of men and bulls surged through the narrow gap between the houses. She thought she could see Antonio ahead of the bunch, but definitely found Romano and was anxious and excited for him at the same time. He ran strong and fast next to one of the first bulls, held onto his horns, kept pace and let the bull pull him along. Louisa, next to her, cheered out into the screams of the people below and Gina herself felt the sweeping emotions of the moment wash over her. Her nostrils caught the aroma of the sweat, sheer terror and

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Toreador's Embrace exertion of the tumult of human and animal flesh below her. The herd of bulls seemed endless, more and more appeared and with them the runners. Those that managed to stay on their feet, and those that were grabbed by the agitated animals’ horns and thrown under the hooves all mingled in to the confusion that was the encierro. She looked out and over to the other side of the street where windows also held onlookers—girls leant over the windowsills and boys leant over the girls—most of them seemed excited about more than just the encierro. Gina smiled. What a tradition. Bulls thundered along the cobbled lane below her, pushing their bulk toward their destiny, the plaza de toros. A couple of animals slipped and fell, and slid hooves-first into the onlookers, toppling them like skittles; two runners were caught by the horns and flung about in screams of sheer terror, landing under the hooves of those that followed behind. Like an unstoppable tidal wave, the spectacle moved past Louisa’s apartment and finally out of sight, with only a trickle of people following in the slip stream, and the crowd soon filled the laneway again with its sea of heads, milling about those that needed assistance after having been trampled by the bulls. An ambulance pushed its way through to pick one of the daring heroes up and dispatch him to hospital; he seemed to have sustained a broken leg in the melee. It was eleven in the morning when Gina, Louisa and Margarita headed for the plaza de toros on foot. There was no way the car would be of use to them as the streets were choked with people who enjoyed the

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J.J. Doulton Feria de la Virgen del Mar. The others had left earlier and Gina’s beau had simply vanished by the time she emerged from Louisa’s bathroom after freshening up. The gentle cream colours of the church of San Tomaso with its terracotta roof and the soft shapes was perfectly framed by the deepest of blue of the cloudless day with the deep green of the tall palm trees that added an unmistakable Mediterranean touch. The girls rounded the corner of the tower just as the bells up high inside it announced the eleventh hour. Gina closed her eyes for a moment and let the bell’s vibrations sing through her body. Most of Aldorra’s houses were light coloured with only sparse additions of darker accents or details and the narrow street, through which the women walked and where Louisa usually bought her groceries, was no exception. All shops were closed, of course, and the stream of people simply dragged the girls along. Before long, Gina looked up at the slender, white phallic obelisk in Aldorra’s rambla. To her it seemed more slender and taller than any others she’d seen, including the one on the White House lawn. She loved fountains and talked the girls into a slight detour along the central water features. The canopies of the old plane trees along both sides of the promenade had reached an enormous expanse and formed an intertwined roof over the promenade. It created uninterrupted shade for the people to parade endlessly on even the hottest days. Covered ramblas such as this were a prominent feature in many Spanish towns. With plenty of time on their hands, Louisa suggested a stroll through parque de Miguel

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Toreador's Embrace Cantaras to the other side, where her relatives owned a tapas bar and the girls were certain to be treated to a cool sangria and some well deserved tidbits. As they walked past the park’s central water fountain, Gina couldn’t help herself and took off her shoes to cool her legs in the water, to enjoy its cool freshness. Gently, the endless rows of palm trees through the centre of the rambla rustled their beautiful leaves in the hot Mediterranean breeze. After a jar of Sangria between them, a few mouthfuls of tapas and a cigarette, the girls headed for the plaza de toros. The beautiful ochre building with its terracotta accents in the panels, friezes and the small corner pikes along the top of the tall wall, loomed up before them—its entrance hungrily sucked in spectators at a steady rate. After Louisa had told Gina that they were seated in the upper terrace of the sombra, the girls separated, as Gina wanted to find Julio. She moved to the area with the holding pens but soon gave up the idea of finding him. For some reason, there was an unusual amount of people packed around the bull pens who wanted to catch a glimpse of the beasts from Magia Negra. She had better find her friends and settle down for the commencement of the corrida. She showed her pass to the colourfully dressed attendant and proceeded to enter the stadium when she saw a small door just to the side, hidden from view under the staircase that led to the upper stories. It was ajar and she caught a glimpse of burning candles. Curious, she looked around but nobody took any notice of her and swiftly she slipped inside. At first she couldn’t see anything

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J.J. Doulton else but the flames of the candles, and it took her eyes a few seconds to adjust. The small room, secreted beneath the arena’s auditorium was without windows and fitted out with icons of saints and angels. Gina realised she had entered the small chapel that served the toreros for their prayer before they enter the arena. A figure knelt on the small pew in front of a heavily decorated small altar. The suit, his traje de luces that glittered dimly in the candlelight with its myriads of sequins, told her it was a torero who prepared for the encounter with his bull. She stepped closer, with the intention to wish the courageous man luck, but was lost for words when her eyes fell on his face and on impulse she gently kissed the golden, glittering torero on the cheek. He gladly accepted her offering. Quietly she slipped out of the chapel, past a baffled assistant, and into the crowd of the arena to find her friends. It was hot and the colourful fan in her hand offered welcome cooling relief. She climbed the steep wooden stairs and walked along the upstairs gallery and feasted her eyes on the colourful display the stadium presented, full to the brim with spectators.

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Toreador's Embrace

Chapter Six: Ole!

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he breeze wasn’t strong enough to disperse the heavy cigar and cigarette smoke from within the covered stand. She strolled through the heady mix of animal odour, sweat, perfumes, aftershaves and smoke that wafted through the crowd, savouring its dizzying effect. The seat next to Louisa and Margarita came into view not a moment too soon as the stifling heat engulfed her. For a short while she leant back and closed her eyes, moving only her hand with the fan aiming the cooling airflow at her throat and cleavage. The girls giggled and when she opened her eyes, Margarita offered her a cigarette that looked more like a joint in her outstretched hand. Gina accepted and realised that it was a joint. She smiled and for a moment saw the disapproving faces of Forbes Media’s board members appear before her. The smile turned into a grin, and she sent them away with a heartfelt fuck you. She inhaled long and deeply and held it as long as she could, and then slowly exhaled the rough blue breath.

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J.J. Doulton Gradually, the atmosphere within the plaza de toros became her atmosphere; the colours looked brighter, the people were beautiful and she turned to Margarita and Louisa, hugged and kissed them and laughed with them, anticipating the bloody spectacle. Twelve noon. The signal the crowd had been waiting for sounded the start of the bullfight. Gina clapped and cheered, and the wave of the spectators’ tumultuous roar swept her along. “Ole!” All eyes were directed to the main entrance where the matadors and the novilleros entered. “Ole!” Nine gladiators were to pit their wits against the raw brawn of the Spanish bulls. “Ole!” The thundering applause welcomed the heroes and confirmed their importance in Spanish culture. “Ole!” Gina spotted her toreador and a few bars of Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ fleeted through her mind. He looked the part, was a full-fledged matador—had done his apprenticeship and evolved through the ranks of the novilleros—Louisa’s explanations tore apart in the tumultuous roar of the spectators who moved and sounded like one, single, explosive creature. Gina’s hand stole down to her groin; she couldn’t take her eyes off him. He scanned the grandstand and Gina knew his black eyes searched for her. She stood up, walked to the front of the terrace, took a firm hold of the nearest post and leant out over the handrail. Her swaying red dress was impossible to miss…and

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Toreador's Embrace she wore nothing underneath. Her matador’s gaze fixed in her direction and, by lifting his black matador’s cap, he acknowledged his virgen. Gina stepped back and re-joined her girlfriends. Their admiring glances and approving expressions lifted her spirits even higher—it was all that mattered for now. Another joint moved back and forth between them. The first of the novilleros took his place. He looked awfully young to be messing with such a large beast as a bull and Gina was afraid for him. He stood, a picture of concentration and awaited his toro. Gina’s heart pounded hard and fast in her chest as she watched the black bull enter the arena and leisurely trot around the torero in a circle and assess the figure standing in the centre. Her eyes undressed the Spanish god, feasted on the tight little round ass, the buttocks that clenched in anticipation and tried to assess the size of his rig, tightly and securely tucked away in the taut trousers of his torero uniform. The bull wore the divisa of the Ganaderia Toros de Magia Negra, the silver and black of Julio’s bull ranch. The young novillero never moved, his magenta and yellow capote by his side. Slowly he lifted it up and unfolded it and brought the fight to the animal. Like a dancer, he stalked behind his capote, his thigh muscles bulged beneath the pink and gold of his traje de luces. Gina pictured him being fucked by his virgen as a blessing before the fight and mused that he looked so young he probably was a virgin himself. The black giant stood and snorted with its tail erect and ears pointed forward. The white of its eyes

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J.J. Doulton showed and it gave another snort and pawed the ground with one of its front hooves. The dirt sprayed up under its belly and the muscles quivered—it was ready to explode. The hands that held the magenta capote moved and the big work cape shook. A third snort from the bull’s flared nostrils announced its attack. Like a machine revving, the bull’s muscles flexed, contracted and launched the animal at an incredible speed toward the novillero. “Ole!” Calmly, elegantly and without hesitation, the torero guided the black machine within hair’s breadth past his beautifully clad body—the cape swung over the back of the speeding beast and the torero turned on his heel to be ready for the next advance. Dust whirled up from its four hooves as the black giant abruptly halted its run and turned, furious at the miss, around for its next attempt. “Ole!” Gina heard her own voice scream out relief and adoration at the young gladiator who strutted his stuff. The blood pumped wildly through the veins on the side of her neck and her head was near exploding. “Ole!” Another close pass. This time around the back of the torero who remained on his spot and only flexed his body forward to avoid the deadly horns. Her eyes soaked up his wonderfully smooth move and her own body reflexively imitated it. Louisa had lit another joint and Gina took it in her turn. The bull’s ribcage heaved with the strain of breathing and its flanks quivered. It was dangerously

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Toreador's Embrace agitated and relentless in its runs. The froth dripped from its mouth. “Ole!” The first tercio of this novillada sin picadores came to a closure, the sweat on the bull’s hide glistened and its odour penetrated to the highest seats in the plaza. The rosette on the beasts shoulder quivered. The novillero’s cuadrilla of banderilleros moved in for the second tercio and skilfully placed the all-white banderillas into the bulls back. They waited for the beast to charge and carefully timed their jump to let the animal surge past and used the weight of their arched bodies in mid-air to insert the barbed sticks deeply into the massive muscles. The bull’s agitation grew with the cruel barbs in its back that twisted, turned and bounced around with each step and carved up its flesh. The white of the banderillas stained red with the blood of the bull. By the end of the second tercio, its tongue hung out of its mouth and its entire frame shook with the violent and irregular rhythm of its exhausted body. The red blood painted a strangely alluring contrast onto the jet-black hide of the bull. Gina found herself swept away by the rising arousal in the crowd, induced by the appearance of the blood, and was strangely mesmerised. The torero doffed his montera to the president of the bullring to ask permission to kill the bull and it was granted. He walked to the centre of the ring where he threw the montera over his shoulder—for luck. It landed, lucky side up, in the sand. The baby-faced torero exchanged his capote for the muleta—ten more minutes of torture—the faena had

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J.J. Doulton begun. The red fabric on the wooden stick, held out with one outstretched arm invited the bull for the last round of the game. It charged. Gina’s heart throbbed in her throat and nearly throttled her. “Ole!” The convulsive roar sounded unmistakably lustful. Another charge of thundering hooves toward the novillero. “Ole!” The frequency of the attacks increased, the run-ups became shorter—more desperate. Gina’s nipples were as hard as pebbles. “Ole!” Two minutes to spare to the first aviso, the estoque between the shoulder blades of the bull fired up the crowd like an orgasm, the beast crashed into the dirt, hard—a well executed estocada—and the cum of the convulsive roar in the crowd were testimony to the young virgin novillero’s excellence. “Ole!” A banderillero quickly appeared, knelt behind the black mass and jabbed a puntilla in the bull’s neck— the coup de grace. Two more novilleros displayed their skills in the ring, two more bulls were dragged through the dirt by a team of mules. One of them had earned a lap of honour and upon its lifeless body was bestowed the applause of the lusting crowd. Gina gratefully accepted the glass of Sangria that Louisa handed to her. It was a welcome thirstquencher, but it also made her even more lightheaded than she already was from the joints. The

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Toreador's Embrace announcer introduced the next fight and to her delight, the familiar blue and gold of her matador appeared in the arena. Excited, Gina stood up and moved forward to the barrier of the terrace so as not to miss one single move of her matador. The picador moved in with his heavily padded horse and the lance and thus began the first tercio of her matador’s fight. “Ole!” The bull charged with incredible fervour—it was too close and the matador only escaped through a split-second jump out of the way. In this bull he had found his match. Gina remained at the rails, held onto the post and lent out as far as she dared. Her breasts almost spilled out over the tightly laced fabric of her dress—she wanted him to know that his danger made her horny. The bull charged again with his slightly outward pointed horns that aimed at the man’s torso, and violently reached for him with a succession of fast sideways jabs. Again, Gina’s hero had to prove his worth and read the bull’s moves correctly. “Ole!” The crowd refused to simmer down between roars and the stadium reverberated and amplified the continual raucous cheer. This was a fight of titans and it would not be an easy victory for the master. The first tercio was over, but the crowd kept cheering. This is what they had come to see. The energy of the bull’s brute strength reached up to the terrace and Gina let it wash over her as it washed over the entire mass of lecherous spectators. Despite the picador’s vara, the animal held its head high and expected to drive its horn through the irritating creature with the magenta

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J.J. Doulton cape. Placing the banderillas proved dangerous and the bull victoriously slashed one of the banderilleros’ thighs—the beast had evened the scores, it, too, drew its first blood. The bull was distracted by the attending team of the matador until the injured man was carried out of the arena, then the fight recommenced. The second attempt to place the banderillos in its back was successful. The magnificent animal carried the silver and black divisa of the bulls from Magia Negra and the banderillas matched the rosette with their silver and black bands. The red of the streaming blood under the flapping barbed sticks gave the jet-black bull the appearance of a flying beast when it charged in full extension toward the man with the magenta capote. “Ole!” The crowd no longer cheered but screamed in carnal hysteria and matched Gina’s own lust and hysteria. Again and again the beast charged, tirelessly, to challenge the wit and stamina of her matador. “Ole!” The third and final tercio commenced with the president’s permission to kill the bull and a dull murmur swelled in the crowd. The matador turned in Gina’s direction and offered her a salute, dedicating the death of the bull to her. She gracefully accepted and he approached the stand to send his montera over a multitude of hands up to her. She was to hold it for the duration of the faena; he would reclaim it after the successful completion of this bullfight. He took the

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Toreador's Embrace muleta and the estoque and invited the bull to his last onslaught. The murmur of the crowd increased to a deafening crescendo of the chant. Louisa joined her at the front of the terrace “They petition the president for an indulto for the bull.” The signal was given and the bull was granted the pardon. The crowd’s orgasm reverberated around the walls of the plaza de toros and Gina nearly lost her balance. She held onto the post and waved the matador’s hat in his direction. The man handed the sword to one of his team and lured the bull into one last charge with the muleta. It willingly and courageously obliged and received the matador's bare-handed simulation of the death strike. This magnificent animal was to return to its stud and pass its genes on to a new generation of strong and courageous Magia Negra bulls and a small number of steers were herded into the ring to lead the bull away. The matador’s admiring team soon surrounded him and lifted him onto a pair of strong shoulders that carried him around the stadium where he soaked up the adoration of his people. He directed the group toward the terrace where Gina leant over the railing. His black eyes met hers one last time, and she threw his montera back to her blue and gold hero with a kiss. Her blessing had brought him luck. As the crowd swept him away from her and toward the exit her cell-phone rang. She pulled it out of her satchel that, together with her fan, dangled from her wrist “Ola?” “Gina! It's me, Lena! I’ve just put down in El Semalqui, where are you?”

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J.J. Doulton *** The small herd of steers escorted the bull out of the back gate of the plaza de toros and Eduardo, anxiously and proud at the same time, took over proceedings from here. ‘His’ bull had been granted an indulto—a great honour for one’s estate, but now, the injured animal required its due care. When he heard the crowd’s petition, inwardly Eduardo rejoiced, as this particular bull had been hand reared by him after its mother met with misfortune. From a very early age, the animal had shown exceptional courage and stamina and the old man was quite sentimental about El Cid Magia Negra. Julio had given him that name after he had seen him for the first time when he charged headlong with outstretched horns after another bull. El Cid’s horns did not round off like the other bulls’ but had attained a slight outward slant that made him very dangerous. Eduardo felt Julio’s arm around his shoulders and a couple of hefty slaps on his back “You can keep your pet now. He’ll earn his keep well.” Eduardo smiled and quietly nodded and returned Julio’s proud gaze, but his attention was required in the enclosure—his bull needed seeing to and the veterinarians were in attendance. Once immobilised, the bull’s wounds were cleaned and, where necessary, stitched. There were another three fights in which Magia Negra bulls appeared and Eduardo had to wait. The truck was ready to take any surviving animal back to the ranch. But no other bull, except the

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Toreador's Embrace big black one with the dangerous horns, exited the ring alive. Eduardo left the dissection of the carcasses to the eager butchers and concentrated on the care of the one that had become the Ganaderia del Toros de Magia Negra latest semental—El Cid. The crowd was larger than usual, he noticed between tending to the bull, because they all wanted to catch a close glimpse of the heroic black beast. Eduardo looked over the sea of heads, casually, and for a moment thought that he had been flung back in time about forty years. His heart stopped for one beat, to recommence with such fervour that his ears started ringing. Carmen, he rejoiced and immediately took one step toward the woman intending to take her into his arms. But the stirring of the bull and the noise of its snorting pulled him back into reality and he stopped. He didn’t avert his gaze and strained his eyes to keep her in his view. It can’t be—Carmen died long ago. Who is this woman? He couldn’t tear his stare away from the figure in the throng. He felt the blood drain from his face, and luckily Julio was busy with the veterinarians and the bull because he was unable to move or think straight, and his composure was less than steady as that face in the crowd brought back memories he was unwilling to divulge to Julio. He stepped back into the shade of the overhang close-by, to hide his face; no doubt anyone looking at him would have thought he’d seen a ghost. Indeed, his shaking hands convinced him that he’d just seen the aberration of a woman he once adored, loved and had made love to, except, she hadn’t aged in forty years. The shiny black curls, her pear-shaped face, the large,

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J.J. Doulton dark-brown, almond shaped eyes with the dense lashes and the brows that almost met over the bridge of her nose, the sensuous and full, bright red lips all seemed to belong to Carmen Ramos, the woman who married Paolo Mendez. He watched her fingers play with an amulet around her neck—just like Carmen used to play with her necklace. He wiped the sweat from his brows and blinked—and she was gone. Eduardo lifted himself onto his toes to better see over the throng of the crowd but his efforts were in vain. Have I gone mad? he asked himself and shook his head but he was never one to be duped by his senses, he knew he saw someone that looked like Carmen. Did her ghost come back to haunt me? Am I losing my mind? Eduardo was still in deep, perplexed thought, when Julio nudged him. “Eduardo?” The hand on his shoulder pulled him back to the cattle pens behind the plaza de toros in Aldorra. “You look pale, what’s wrong?” Julio’s eyes had taken on a worried look. “I am getting too old for this business, that’s all. The heat and the bull’s cut up back must have got to me.” He took a deep breath and wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. “They’re almost ready to load the bull. It is coming around, the anaesthesia is wearing off.” Julio motioned toward the shaky black shape that desperately tried to find a steady foothold. A few more minutes lapsed before the bull was capable of safely climbing the ramp onto the truck. Eduardo stole a glance or two into the gawking

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Toreador's Embrace crowd but to no avail, the ghost had vanished but the mystery remained. He focused his attention on loading the valuable animal and securing the tailgate. “Are you driving home with us in the truck?” He asked Julio jokingly, attempting to take his mind off the ghost and knowing full well that the young man adored his expensive red sports machine. “Why not—here!” Julio gave the keys to his Ferrari to Eduardo’s surprised foreman “drive the convertible to the hacienda for me, please.” “What about Gina?” Eduardo wondered. “Gina and the girls have other plans for today, her car is at Louisa’s,” Julio replied, opened the passenger door to the old green cattle truck and hopped in before Eduardo had time to recover completely. “Gracias, Señor,” the surprised ranchero uttered with a beaming smile as his shoulders straightened and the chest deepened with the importance of driving his boss’ Ferrari. The exit streets from the plaza de toros were choked with people and cars that tried to leave at the same time. To make matters worse, one single taxi tried to drive in the opposite direction through the masses toward the plaza and blocked half of the street that Eduardo attempted to negotiate to get out of town. The passenger seemed to be in a hurry and Eduardo watched the pretty redhead in a khaki overall hand the driver the fare and step from the car. He cussed as the vehicle attempted a U-turn in front of his truck and stuck his head out of the window to air his sentiments about the unnecessary hold-up and put his fist in the centre of the steering wheel. The truck

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J.J. Doulton angrily howled its horn and the taxi replied with equally angry, albeit higher pitched horn blows. Eduardo looked over to Julio, who grinned from ear to ear and quite clearly enjoyed himself. Eduardo realised that this must have been a far cry from advertising campaign presentations and business lunches in air conditioned hotels and managed a grin himself. The taxi successfully manoeuvred its U-turn through the crowd and the traffic began seeping through the street again. The truck moved on with a few first-gear-jerks and picked up speed as they left the worst of the bottleneck behind. He watched Julio turn and look through the dirty back window of the cabin to check on the bull in the back of the truck. He seemed happy with El Cid. Once on the open road toward San Pedro, Eduardo relaxed back into the seat and the earlier apparition flooded back to his mind. Carmen—after almost forty years she came back into his life from beyond the grave and made the flames in his old loins flare up once more. There had never been another woman after her for him, and quietly—and ashamed at his thoughts at the same time—he felt it only just that the child whose birth had killed his Carmen, had later died in a fire at the hacienda. Those red, sensual lips, the slim neckline, the voluptuous breasts, the firm belly and her dense, black bush with the hot and steaming cunt in its shade, to this day filled his dreams. He looked out of the window into the endless horizon of the Mediterranean and licked his dry lips; his tongue tasted hers in his imagination. Her face was before him and her hand invited him, tantalisingly close, to

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Toreador's Embrace the pleasures of her nakedness. The callused hands, clenched around the truck’s steering wheel, still remembered the feel of her firm breasts that moulded into his kneading fingers—the nipples that contracted and hardened under his palm. He heard the sigh escape from her ribs when he kissed her navel and let his tongue wander lower and circle that most sacred hidden treasure of the female flesh, the clitoris. Oh how he loved to drink her, satisfy his thirst when she squirted out her cum—no other woman had ever driven and satiated his lust like Carmen did. Eduardo’s penis, despite its age, stirred, but the truck demanded his attention, the steep section of the highway required lower gear. Soon there would be the turn-off to San Pedro. He glanced over to Julio who had made himself comfortable and laid back in the seat. His head rested on the padded back and his eyes were closed. Eduardo looked ahead onto the road again where Carmen’s lustfully open thighs appeared in the heat haze above the truck’s dirty green. Eduardo’s heart ached with the pain of missing the woman’s soft, sweaty skin and her tight, slippery vagina. His hand reached out to touch her open cunt, to sink his finger slowly into her, but succeeded only in sending Carmen’s image more distant again. Disillusioned, his hand sank back onto its place on the steering wheel where the only sensation was the vibration of the truck’s engine. He heard her laughter in his mind, her breathing, fast and moaning with the lust of his cock that

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J.J. Doulton satisfied the full-blooded black-eyed Spanish woman who strained under him in his grip. He still felt his own thrusts find their aim inside her hot body all these years ago. They used to meet in one of the many caves that lined some of the coves on the eastern shore of the peninsula. The cave was secluded and offered them the ideal hideaway for a love nest. Eduardo’s nostrils flared as his mind picked up the musty scent of the cave that mingled with her perfume. His cock became uncomfortably strained in the tight ranchero’s outfit as the blood pumped into its veins but he dared not move—he was not alone in the truck. Julio moved, but his eyes remained shut. Carmen’s firm round buttocks beckoned and Eduardo’s memory took him back to the cave where she waited for the Spanish stallion to gallop along the beach and take him to her. She loosened her dress and stripped in front of the cave while he approached and by the time he arrived at the hollow and dismounted, he already had a hard on ready to fuck her horny body. She leapt onto him and tore his shirt and trousers off with such desperate urgency it heightened his lust even more. Her hands crept over his shoulders, along the neck and into his hair, stroked his face before she kissed him and while her tongue played with his, her fingers moved all over him and finally came to rest on his penis. She slid down on him and licked him, then gradually closed her full, red lips over his cock and let her tongue slither around it. Eduardo thought the sensation would send him mad and he’d spout into her deep throat before they even entered the cave. She

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Toreador's Embrace had once told him that it was his hands and the strong, sinewy fingers that drove her mad and by sucking him to climax first, she’d ensure that she had his hands to herself for the time it took him to harden again. He grabbed her, lifted her up and carried her into the cave. Her hands clutched her tits, played with her nipples and she laid herself against his body to afford his hands the best access to her cunt. As soon as he slid his first finger inside her, her body reacted and he watched her strain under the enormous pleasure he provided her. While he stroked the overflowing vagina inside, he unveiled the hidden clit, her source of even greater ecstasy that unleashed between his finger tips, and caressed it with his tongue first, then sucked it and gently squeezed it between his teeth. Her thighs twitched with each little rasping squeeze and he listened to her short, sharp cries of lust while he moved his fingers in an even rhythm. As he watched her writhe in his hands and clutch at her belly, he felt incredibly powerful and his penis grew while he worked her into her first orgasm—her back arched and he felt her spasms through his fingertips, and while her screams echoed through the cave, he drank the juice that squirted from her climax. He didn’t wait for her to recover, but invaded her still-trembling vagina with his throbbing penis. He reached for a handful of tits, soft quivering flesh with her hard nipples to hold onto. Her cum still on his lips, he kissed her and she licked them clean. Her cunt sucked in his cock and he felt like he drowned in her heat. For the longest time they simply fucked,

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J.J. Doulton enjoying the rhythm and relishing the sensation of flesh against flesh. Then the slight irregularity in her movements signalled that she ripened to a renewed climax and he increased the ferocity of his thrusts and held the last one deep inside, motionless—he waited for her convulsions to milk him and her spasms coerced his muscles to pump his semen from the depths of his testes into her vagina and as he filled her she cried her orgasm into the cave. His memories turned darker. He thought that he had dealt with the devastation that turned his soul into a desert when Carmen married Paolo. She tried to explain to him that the Mendez money would take care of her parents and that she owed it to them. It broke his heart. He had never loved like this before and never did again after Carmen. Eduardo nearly missed the turn-off to San Pedro and hurriedly put his foot on the clutch and took the engine down through its gears. Julio jolted out of his slumber and looked at him, obviously wondering whether Eduardo had fallen asleep at the wheel. “No autopilot.” Eduardo joked with a crooked grin. Julio glanced out the back and reassured himself that the bull was still on its legs. Eduardo had to bite his tongue not to say anything about Carmen’s ghost and that it was she who had caused him to nearly miss the turn-off. He looked out over the Mediterranean Sea, the coastline of the Costa Aldorra and its unique features, the jagged rocks that jutted out of the water, the many small coves that hid caves just like the one where he and Carmen used to

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Toreador's Embrace meet. His eyes followed the small train to San Pedro and watched it work its way through the undulating landscape as its tracks and the road shared the same stretch of land for a while before it veered off into the distance again and disappeared behind another barren hill. The white stone houses of San Pedro in the distance came into view. “Tell me about the fire, Eduardo.” Julio’s voice pulled him out of his reveries. “The fire? At the hacienda?” Eduardo looked at Julio. Why would he want to know about the fire after all these years? “What would you like to know?” “How it started; how long it took before it was put out; where everyone was during the fire; where Maria was when it happened, the way you remember it, Eduardo. I have been thinking of Maria lately and have had dreams. The nightmares won’t leave me alone and I’ve got to know more than what father told me.” Eduardo waved at an oncoming truck, a friend of his from San Pedro, heading into Aldorra no doubt, changed into the high gear and settled back into his seat. “Well…the first I knew of the fire was when the horses became agitated and panicked. At the same time as they whinnied and stomped around in the coral I heard Rosalia scream from the house. She had been busy in her kitchen and had come out to get some eggs from her chickens. That’s when I saw the smoke that came through the roof. Through the window I could see that the room was well alight, and I ran toward the house to see better. The pump

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J.J. Doulton was close-by and Paolo came from the other stables and ran inside. I called to a couple of boys to help me with the hose and very quickly we managed to get the water onto the fire. Paolo came back out with Maria in his arms. Her clothes were blackened and her hair was singed and she was unconscious. By now all the ranch hands had arrived to help and I left the boys to finish off the job to drive Paolo and Maria to the doctor in San Pedro.” “The fire had been contained in that one room only. Maria had been playing in there but we never found out how the fire started. The doctor treated Maria and called the ambulance to take her to hospital in Aldorra. Unfortunately, she died a few days later and we buried her next to her mother.” Eduardo stopped abruptly and sighed deeply. Talking of that dreadful day stirred up memories he had tried to forget for so long. Every week without fail, since Carmen had died while she gave birth to Maria, he visited her grave. Julio remained silent and stared straight ahead. “There was one peculiar thing. It was after the fire when we cleaned up the mess,” Eduardo added. “Oh?” “I took down the charred roof and wall timber. Some of the beams were cemented in the rocks of the old and disused fireplace surround and part of this had to be demolished. I was about to take out one of the burned beams when a rock dislodged and fell out. I didn’t think anything of it until the cemented end of the beam came out and I saw a tin box in the hollow. When I opened it I found papers in there, all neatly

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Toreador's Embrace bound, and a diary that was locked. There was no key to it in the box. As this was not my house, I gave everything to Paolo as I assumed it must have been from someone in his family. That’s the last I ever saw of it. He never spoke of it and never mentioned that he had ever read it. It was a most peculiar event.” Eduardo shrugged his shoulders and looked over to Julio whose brows had formed a slight furrow over the bridge of the nose. He looked intrigued and curious. “Where would that box be now?” He enquired. “My guess would be that it is with the notary in Aldorra. After you had left to live in Madrid, Paolo cleaned out much of his office and took an entire case full of documents for safekeeping in the notary’s vault.” Eduardo took the truck back down through the gears as they approached the turn-off to the Mendez hacienda. The bridge over the Andrecco, Pene Verde de San Pedro’s life-giving river, came into view. Eduardo never ceased to marvel at the lush, green contrast that this peninsula presented next to the barren, almost moon-like features of the landscape behind it. Julio’s great-grandfather had dug a number of irrigation channels along the river within the property and they accounted for the green and fertile nature of the land spit. The view from the bridge both up and downriver was breathtaking. Downriver, a deep, still pool under giant, overhanging elms and willows mirrored its shores, upriver a myriad of droplets glittered and danced over a gushing waterfall—a most picturesque vista. Julio remained quiet for some time.

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J.J. Doulton “What do you think of Gina, Eduardo?” The young man’s question interrupted his own brooding about Carmen’s ghost once more. “Gina? What do I think about her?” For a moment he was torn between the safe alternative about how good looking she was and a few other comments about her external appearance, and divulging his own thoughts about the hidden fears of the young woman, the way he saw them. Then he weighed up the tone of Julio’s voice when he asked the question—it wasn’t the usual voice, fishing for a compliment, it was a deep concern that wouldn’t accept superficial comments. “She is a beautiful, lonely young woman too frightened to commit to a relationship because of the destructive course her parents’ marriage took.” Julio remained quiet and so encouraged, Eduardo continued. “I might be but a ranchero, but I have lived a life that has given me much wisdom and insight into people’s nature. I tell you, without you, this young woman would have wasted away a long time ago. I know you both are free and have your affairs, but then, that’s life, but between you and Gina, there is more than just an affair—there is real love and this will never die, whether you ever get together or not. But I tell you one more thing… if you don’t make her a permanent part of your life soon, you will regret it for the rest of your life…and I am speaking from experience.” He didn’t turn to look at Julio. This was the first time he dared speak so frank to the son of Paolo Mendez. The young man had an ego that managed to paste over all his insecurities and

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Toreador's Embrace one of those was Gina. “You are afraid, too, Julio. You think like she does. You fear losing her by making her your own.” Eduardo didn’t know where those words came from and inwardly winced I’m not his father. It’s none of my business. But he needn’t have worried “Yes. You’re right. Thank you, Eduardo. You’re more of a father than my own was to me.” Eduardo’s chest swelled with an inexplicable emotion—he’d always wished for a son and if he would have had one, he would have been like Julio, he knew for certain. *** Gina stood at the main entrance to the plaza de toros and waited for Lena Montague. Louisa and Margarita had left with their toreros already. Lena had flown in this morning from Palma and called Gina to meet with her and enjoy a few days with her on the peninsula. “Gina!” She heard her name, turned around and spotted the familiar thick red, waist-long locks of her university friend, dressed in a khaki pilot’s overall. “Lena!” The embrace was as warm and heartfelt as ever. Together they had spent many years at the university and later remained friends. Lena piloted planes for her father’s charter business on Mallorca and had a

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J.J. Doulton number of machines at her disposal. On this occasion, she told Gina, she was to trial a modified Cessna that was to take her along the African coast together with a couple of others. One of the pilots she was to meet right here in Aldorra next week and the third in Oran, Algeria, where the final preparations for the long trip would be carried out. As they moved through the throng of the exiting spectators from the arena, someone brushed against Gina and when she looked around, she glimpsed the black robe of a priest with grey, straggly hair, slipping back into the anonymity of the crowd. For a moment she thought she recognised Father John, but shook her head. Too much of a coincidence, she pulled herself up. You’re getting paranoid. Lena’s voice cut through her brooding and demanded her full attention. “Isn’t he beautiful!” she heard her exclaim. “What is?” “Him!” Lena pointed to a picador on his horse, and she wasn’t sure whether her girlfriend meant the rider or his mount. The priest all but forgotten, she joked, “A matching pair.” The girls giggled like budding teenagers, enjoying each other’s company and the festive atmosphere that was the Feria de la Virgen del Mar in Aldorra. Gina led Lena back through Aldorra’s streets and plazas, through the parque de Miguel Cantaras, past the church of San Tomaso, whose bells were quiet this time, and around the back of Louisa’s house. Gina rang the doorbell and waited for her Spanish friend to come to the door. The window above opened and

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Toreador's Embrace Louisa’s smiling face appeared and behind hers, that of Pedro, Gina’s John Travolta look-alike from the encierro. He lent over Louisa’s shoulders and smiled down at her and Lena. Gina laughed and waved at the pair in the window. They exchanged a few words and Gina introduced Lena briefly before getting into the car. She let down the soft-top, drove off to leave Louisa and Pedro to enjoy the rest of their Sunday and out of Aldorra and onto the coastal road, relaxed and slow, and chatted with Lena. The intense summer heat caused the air to shimmer over the hot ground—the road seemed to lead straight into the sky and the breeze caught her dress and sent a welcome draught under the fabric. Lena unbuttoned her khaki pilot’s overall and let the air cool her sweaty breasts. She slid her hands behind her head and lifted the red mane away from her shoulders to let it wave and tangle behind her and dry the moisture in the nape of her neck. A short distance after El Semalqui, Gina spotted a figure ahead of them that seemed suspended in midair from the heat haze. Small at first and unrecognisable, distorted and shimmering like a mirage, it hung there, but grew larger as she continued to drive toward it. Not many people would walk along the highway, especially during the hot summer and the figure intrigued her. It extended an arm. A hitchhiker. Gina recognised the gesture—she had used it herself on many occasions when she was in her teens. She slowed down the car and as they approached,

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J.J. Doulton the tall figure solidified. They were still too far away to see the face of the man but the feet touched the ground and he was no longer disconnected from the earth. The broad shoulders and the wild ragae dreadlocks looked strangely familiar to Gina. The wide grin exposed two rows of immaculately white teeth and that’s when Gina’s heart missed a beat. “Mo!” She called and hit the brakes so hard, the car skidded along the gravel shoulder and came to a halt right next to him. Lena shrieked as she was thrown into her seatbelt and her mane flung around her face. The black stallion had turned into a mirage and reappeared in front of her car. Moses recognised her too and his tongue slithered past his lips, moistened them and showed off its gold spike. “I know you cannot possibly be the virgin of the sea, but you look like the next best thing to me.” His grin had become even broader. Gina watched his eyes move in the direction of Lena—the gaze quite unashamedly wandered along her open overall and came to rest on her well-formed cleavage. “This is Lena. Jump in!” Gina felt every fibre of her groin with acute awareness, her flesh filled with raging passion at the thought of that dark alley and the cold steel of the lamppost. The black hunk didn’t need a second invitation. Without opening the door, he climbed over the side and slid down onto the backseat. The girls turned around and feasted their eyes on his physique and Gina asked where he was headed. “San Pedro. I’ve got business with a Paolo Mendez, do you know where I could find him?”

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Toreador's Embrace Gina was puzzled at the macabre question. “Paolo Mendez died last year. What sort of business do you have with the Mendez’s?” Gina asked. “Unfinished business,” came back the laconic answer with that deep, purring laugh that made her tremble. The mystery surrounding Moses Black deepened. She decided not to let on who she was and that she was involved with Julio. She offered to drive him to the hacienda and he settled in for the drive. “After the bullfight I tried to get a taxi but it seemed all of Aldorra’s taxies were taken. I couldn’t get a rental either, everything was closed, so I decided to hitchhike—you never know who you meet.” He grinned into the rear vision mirror. Gina spotted the turn-off to a small dirt road that lead down to one of the secluded coves and her mind began playing all sorts of tricks on her. The effects of the bullfight, the Sangria and the smoke still had a hold on her. As she slowly drove past the turn off, her imagination took over and she saw, hidden between towering cliffs, where the track ended, a sheltered spot where she parked the car. Neither of her passengers spoke and she let her mind wander uninterrupted, conjuring up images from her own world of fantasy. Moses helped the girls out of their seats and let his hands explore their bodies to which they eagerly submitted. The girls made themselves busy and unbuttoned his shirt, took off the belt and opened his trousers. And then Gina saw it in full daylight—that huge erect cock with the dumbbell just behind its head, where the skin fold began. She heard Lena’s

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J.J. Doulton shriek of excitement when she also noticed it. This time he’ll do me with his spiked tongue first, I won’t miss out on that again, was all Gina could think of and her juices moistened her crack amidst the swelling pain of her flesh. She changed gear and felt the moisture seep into her panties as her fantasies worked their magic. Moses led her and Lena over to a rock ledge and lifted them up onto it, side by side, close to the edge and spread their legs one by one, exploring their moist and waiting flesh. Gina leant back and felt Mo’s tongue on her clit as it gently, slowly circled it with its soft tip at first while Lena watched. The sudden sharp scraping of Mo’s spike along her cunt made Gina squirm with pleasure, he slid the gold instrument up under the clit’s foreskin and forced it into her soft flesh until she whimpered with the delicious pain. After a while she felt him withdraw and slide the sharp point along the centre of her, straight into her little piss hole where it lodged for a sensational stimulation. The sharp point of the spike mixed with the softness of the tongue and was indescribably wicked. He tormented her with his toy for a while, worked her up to near climax and then moved on to tickle her swollen lips before he pushed inside her cunt. The rhythmic, titillating arousal just around the entrance of her hot and moist vagina sent shivers of lust quiver through her entire body. But Mo hadn’t finished yet; he continued his tongue’s journey along the crack of her flesh to her backslit. The golden spike worked its way past the tight muscle and lodged within the sensitive skin folds.

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Toreador's Embrace Gina had never felt anything like this before and delighted in her body’s delicious reaction to this new stimuli that increased her lust with every lick of his tongue. Again, he withdrew and slowly, his tongue slithered back along her flesh, dragging the sharp instrument over it. She lay on the rock, exposed for the universe to witness her want when he moved away to treat Lena in the same way. Gina’s friend laid back and closed her eyes. At the first touch with the spike her body flexed and it was Gina’s turn to watch. She leant over Lena, kissed her breasts, her throat and her lips and then turned to watch Moses. He looked into Gina’s eyes as he played with his tongue in Lena’s cunt and elicited shrieks of raw lust from her throat. He did with Lena as he did with Gina—he brought her to almost climax when he played her clit and every orifice between her thighs and then left her lie on the slate in a state of utter want. He stepped back and looked at the two naked women while his enormous penis reached skyward. All Gina wanted now was to be impaled by this cock. He helped her and Lena down from the rock ledge and pinned both against the face of one of the towering cliffs that sheltered this cove. He grabbed Lena first, lifted her up and lowered her onto his cock. He slid her cunt over his penis and made her nearly choke from the immensity of his member. Gina watched with increasing lust as Moses fucked her friend, the way she had imagined he had fucked her against the cold iron lamp post. She moved closer and pressed herself against the blue-black skin of Moses and slid her white hands down past his

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J.J. Doulton buttocks and between them, wriggling her finger inside his back. He reacted with an approving groan and intensified the treatment he gave Lena. Gina felt the ripple of his muscles under the glistening black while he worked Lena and stroked his backslice and played with his balls. Lena’s cries of lust intensified as Moses coaxed her into her well-earned orgasm. Gina had played with Lena often enough to know that this cum was one of the largest she’d experienced. Her friend went limp in Moses’ arms and Gina helped steady her when he withdrew. Then he turned to her. His cock seemed to grow larger every time she looked at it. This time for sure he would split her in half. He reached for her and lifted her up by her waist and she felt herself lowered onto that mighty member of his. There was the sharp thrill that she had waited for—and imagined on a few occasions—when his platinum-decorated penis slid inside her. She drew a few sharp breaths as the sensation almost threatened her to black out—she wanted to be conscious for this fuck. He charged, slowly at first, and let her feel every millimetre of his platinum’s sliding movements. She had her hands around his neck, her legs were locked behind the small of his back and his hands clasped her buttocks and guided her movements. Then he stepped back against the steep rock face and she knew in an instant what he wanted her to do. She put her feet against the cliff and pushed herself off—enough so his prick could slide almost out of her—then she relaxed her legs and sank back over his prick. Gina fucked her black stud, and it wasn’t long

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Toreador's Embrace before both found a rhythm that intensified their rage. She wanted to feel the sharp thrill his platinum caused in her flesh for as long as possible and he obliged with a staying power that only Julio would equal. Then his huge hands grabbed hold of her pelvis, his head flung back and his cock attacked her cunt with a few fast and vicious thrusts that announced he was about to pump his semen into her and she responded. The tremors rose suddenly and violently and shook her entire body. She heard him shout his climax into the Mediterranean air and felt the force of his hot juice spout inside her with each surge that pulsated through his black cock. His huge chest heaved with the force of his driving breath. Gina held onto him and felt his penis slowly relax inside her. He lowered himself onto his knees and let Gina lie back into the soft sand. He didn’t withdraw. His hands stroked her thighs, her belly, her tits and he leant over her to kiss her, tantalise her with the spiked tongue that sent her crazy playing between her legs before. One hand found its way between her buttocks and a finger slid effortlessly into her backslice. It caused her cunt to react and contract and knead his cock back to life. Moses had made fucking an art form and become a master at it. Gina felt his black monster pump the blood and harden inside her. He had his eyes closed and held her in his vice-like grip; there was no escape and Gina lost herself in that feeling. She knew she was about to be assaulted again by this huge black throbbing piece and welcomed every second of it.

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J.J. Doulton He moved and after a while opened his eyes to look directly into hers. She held the gaze and it seemed as if she could see right through him into his most secret of fantasies and experienced the raw and unmistakable carnal lust that emanated from within his groins. His movements became faster and more furious and her arousal increased with each of his deep thrusts. He lowered his face onto hers and his breath became hers as she was absorbed in him. She ceased to exist and her body momentarily turned into mere flesh for one purpose only—to satisfy his unrestrained rage that tore through his groin. Gina closed her eyes and let herself drown in this wave of passion as he fucked her with all the intensity that he had at his disposal. She felt his juice pump again when he climaxed, and with the last few of his thrusts she screamed out her own last cum. “What did he die of?” The purring voice yanked her out of her daydream haze. “What?” “What did Paolo Mendez die of?” Moses wanted to know. “Oh.” For a moment, she couldn’t think straight and paused to find her composure to answer. Her panties were soaked and the left over of her fantasy still lingered. “I believe he was impaled by a bull’s horn.” She finally found the words and looked into the rear vision mirror to reply. She didn’t want to divulge too much and replied as vaguely as she could. She looked over to Lena and noticed Moses’ hands on her shoulders and grinned to herself. You don’t lose

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Toreador's Embrace much time, do you? After they left the desert landscape behind, the breeze from the sea had a more refreshing effect and slowly, Gina’s drowsiness abated. She drove the windy road down to the peninsula and over the bridge to the Mendez hacienda to drop off their hitchhiker. Eduardo appeared from the stables to greet them and as he strode across the green in front of the building, Gina saw him the way she never saw him before, to her he looked different in this dusky light. The old man had a warm aura around him and it seemed to her as if there was another, younger version of him that tried to shine through, full of virility and vitality. She couldn’t take her eyes off this vision and stared at his body until he reached the car and looked her straight in the eyes with the same look that he had given her every time they had met. His voice was warm when he told her that Julio had returned to the villa only an hour earlier. Moses alighted her Audi and introduced himself to Eduardo and explained his business. As Gina drove away, she overheard Eduardo offer him lodgings for a few days. So, she would most likely meet him again.

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Chapter Seven: Revelaciones

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duardo had showed the visitor inside after the ladies had dropped him off last night. He was bemused to recognise the redhead in the khaki overall sitting in Gina’s car as the one who stepped from the taxi that had blocked the street outside the plaza del toros. The stranger then had identified himself as an investigator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States of America and explained that he was assigned to investigate old, unsolved cases, such as the suspicious death of J.W. Forbes, that had been kept open in case further evidence was to come to light. Eduardo looked at his ID that also gave his visitor the authority to investigate in Spain. He was aware that J.W. Forbes’ death was still under scrutiny and considered suspicious and became very curious at this late interest in the old story but the evening had progressed too far for an in depth discussion and after the evening meal, a port and a cigar both retired for the night. The battle wounds on the victorious bull’s back

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Toreador's Embrace needed regular attention and that meant an even earlier start than usual on Monday morning for Eduardo. He had just finished the application of the medication when he heard to door to the guest wing open. Moses had obviously decided to join Eduardo in his early chores. Together, the two men tended the valuable Spanish horses. One of the stallions required new shoes and the ranch employed a blacksmith who lived on the hacienda also. The furnace was ready and the iron red-hot. The acrid smell of singed hoof soon filled the yard as the hot shoes bedded into the hoof wall. Once the hoof had taken on a perfect shape the hot iron was dunked in a bucket of cold water to cool it, placed back onto the hoof and securely fitted with special horse shoe nails that would turn outward and emerge out of the hoof wall above the iron, to be clipped and hammered down. To finish off the feet of the animal, a black grease was rubbed into the hoof to prevent it from drying and possibly splitting. “Care for a ride?” Eduardo asked Moses who accepted enthusiastically. A ranchero brought the saddle and bridle for the stallion that had just received new shoes, and another stallion was brought out of the stables to be saddled up. Moses admitted that he’d never ridden a stallion before, and the last time he had sat on any horse would have been more than a year ago. Eduardo smiled and reassured him that his stallions were well behaved. The men got in the saddle of their mounts and left the hacienda toward the beach. Eduardo glanced over to Moses and was amused at his cowboy seat but didn’t say anything; the stallion seemed

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J.J. Doulton comfortable with the man’s style. He paid attention to his own horse’s gait as the new shoes were fitted to correct a slight fault in its gait. It seemed to have been successful and Eduardo was happy with the horse’s performance. He let his beautiful animal have its head and encouraged it to gallop along the beach, just like he used to when he visited Carmen all those years ago. Moses followed suit and the men rode along the water’s edge. The stallions joyfully stretched their bodies. Their muscles pumped the power through their elegant limbs and together with the men on their backs they flew effortlessly over the sand. Eduardo was satisfied that the new shoes had corrected the stallion’s irregularity and softly reigned in his mount with the visitor doing likewise. The horses fell into a slow and comfortable, even trot. Eduardo invited Moses to talk to him about the purpose of his visit and was asked questions about Paolo Mendez, his involvement with a certain Juan Ramos in Mexico and the relationship of Paolo Mendez to J.W. Forbes. All Eduardo knew was that a Juan Ramos was Carmen Mendez’ older brother and that J.W. Forbes bought the Forbes villa from Paolo Mendez about two years after Carmen had died at childbirth. The Forbes had previously been staying at the villa as guests of the Mendez family. Her brother had moved to Mexico before Eduardo met Carmen and he knew little of him. Carmen didn’t mention him but she had once hinted that there had been some unfortunate occurrence that had divided the family. Moses informed Eduardo that after he had died, in Juan Ramos’ papers was found a reference to the

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Toreador's Embrace successful revenge of a rape and subsequent death, with J.W. Forbes’ name implicated in connection with both the rape and the revenge. With Paolo deceased, it looked as though Moses had reached a dead end. Eduardo did not know of any rape that had taken place, and he simply couldn’t help Moses. He told him that there had to be a mistake of identity and obviously Juan Ramos had meant someone else. Moses asked Eduardo about Gina’s identity, as he only knew her first name. Eduardo watched the man’s surprise when he learned that Gina was J.W. Forbes’ daughter and life-long intimate friend of Julio Mendez, Paolo’s only surviving heir. The men halted at the mouth of the Andrecco, a beautiful spreading delta that formed an important stretch of wetlands. The horses drank their fill further up in the river’s fresh water and the men turned back. As Eduardo led them into the hacienda’s grounds, he spotted a car drive off and rode around the front of the house to investigate. Visitors didn’t often come unannounced and a second one in as many days aroused his curiosity. When the horse turned the corner his heart missed another beat. Carmen! There she was again—the woman who looked like his Carmen, with the black curls and the ruby-red lips. She turned toward the riders and squinted into the sun. “Ola.” “Buenos días.” Eduardo greeted her. With some trepidation he dismounted and approached the woman. “My name is Emanuellita. I was told that a man by the name of Eduardo could tell me more about this

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J.J. Doulton amulet.” She reached into her cleavage and pulled out the amulet Eduardo saw her play with outside the plaza de toros in Aldorra the day before. He took a close look and held his breath for a few seconds. It was the old Ganaderia Magia Negra insignia and the amulet had been given to Carmen by Paolo after they were married. Eduardo wondered how this woman came to be in possession of it. “I’m Eduardo. Where did you get this?” He demanded to know. “It was given to me.” He was perplexed and looked at her. She was his Carmen in every one of her features. He reminded himself that they still stood outside in the sun with the horses that waited to be relieved of their saddles and headgear. He noticed Moses who stared at the woman and literally undressed her with his eyes. Eduardo excused himself and accompanied the woman to the house, leaving Moses in no doubt that he didn’t want to have him tagging along. When Eduardo called one of the stable hands over, Moses accompanied the horses to the stables and left Eduardo to deal with his visitor. Emanuellita followed Eduardo inside, where he asked her to make herself comfortable in the lounge room. He opened the small drink cabinet, poured two glasses of port and sat down opposite her. “Tell me, Eduardo. What does this medallion mean?” “It is the original insignia of the Ganaderia Toros De Magia Negra. It was created when the hacienda was built many years ago.” “How long ago was this?”

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Toreador's Embrace “It was made around eighty years ago.” Eduardo remembered Paolo Mendez’ grandfather Alonso telling them when they were boys how he and his brothers, Juan and Enrique arrived here with their father just after the turn of the century and set about building the best ganaderia in Spain. “It is one of only three. I thought they were all lost.” “How were the others lost?” “Just through the cracks of time,” he replied, as he honestly didn’t know himself. “So tell me, where did you get this?” He repeated his earlier question. “It was given to me when I was twenty—when I left to make a life for myself.” She obviously evaded his question and he didn’t feel right to pursue the point any further. “Why did you look at me the way you did when you jumped off your horse, Eduardo?” Jump? He couldn’t remember jumping. “You remind me of a woman I knew once and whom I loved very much.” He divulged. “Your wife?” The woman asked. “No, she married another. He was rich, I was poor.” “Hard choice, love or money, isn’t it? Especially when one is poor, one can’t always afford to choose love.” She stepped closer. “I’m certain she would reconsider today.” Emanuellita looked around the room, clearly seizing up his worth. “In those times, parents also had a say in the matter, and obviously Paolo’s family had a lot more money than me to buy the parent’s blessings. But

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J.J. Doulton that’s in the past. I’ve had over forty years to come to terms with this and today, you walk into my life, stirring things up with this medallion—and your looks.” Emanuellita moved closer to him. “Looks?” She asked. “You don’t only remind me of her, you look like her…you smell like her…” His voice faded to a whisper and he stared at her swaying hips and saw Carmen’s hips. He stretched out his hand to touch them but withdrew hastily when he realised that it was a reflex caused by his fantasies about his lost love. The woman stood in front of him, tantalisingly close, and he looked up at her breasts—Carmen’s breasts—and couldn’t hold back any longer. He rose to his feet and pulled her into his arms. Her smell reminded him of Carmen, the feel of her breasts against his body reminded him of Carmen, her entire being reminded him of Carmen and the blood surged through his veins to harden his penis. She caressed his body with hers and slid her hands over the length of his back and one of her fingernails followed the contours of his spine. It sent shivers through his entire body and his lips closed over hers. It had been a long time since he tasted a woman and he thought he was going to die right then from the almost-forgotten feeling of complete arousal. He clamped his arms around her body so hard in an effort to squeeze hers inside his own, melt together as one so she would never leave again, but succeeded only in nearly choking her. He held her around the waist with one arm and explored her breasts with the

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Toreador's Embrace other. She willingly reciprocated and unbuttoned his shirt and his pants. He felt the hardness of his old cock and was pleased with its strength. He continued to undress her and marvelled at the young and beautiful body that unfolded before him, the firm tits, the lush, curved hips and the mysterious black bush. He lifted her into his arms and carried her through the house to his own room where he lied her down on his bed. Her eyes invited him to lie beside her, caress her and she pulled him closer, down onto the sheets with her. Her legs parted for him and his hands slowly moved up on the inside of her thighs, closer and closer to her waiting cunt. He found her moist vagina and his fingers played with her flesh, her clit, her lips and distributed her wet everywhere. He bent down and kissed her—his Carmen—his tongue circled her clit, made her back arch to offer more of her flesh to his lips. He couldn’t drink enough of her juices, so sweet; he had waited a lifetime for her. Every slow lick with his tongue caused her body to writhe and shrieks of delight to escape her throat. He had a hunger for a woman’s body and he was about to feast on one succulent, young female that would bring his old body the satisfaction he had missed for so long. All those lonely nights masturbating and fantasising about Carmen were all but forgotten. He moved closer and knelt between her legs, then lifted her up by her buttocks to meet his cock. He watched himself slowly disappear inside her body, as he filled her up and made her moan. He stroked her belly and felt his penis through her flesh almost near her belly button. Her nipples had contracted and were

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J.J. Doulton as hard as little rocks and her tits stood like volcanoes about to explode. His body remembered what came next and automatically he moved, slid inside the tight flesh of her vagina—in and out in one delicious slow rhythm—and fucked this young creature under him with everything his old body granted him. The sweat on her skin pearled and glisten as he felt his own run down over his back. He leant forward and buried her under his body while he continued his rhythm and she reached behind him with her legs. Her heels dug into his buttocks and massaged them, causing his arousal to grow. Her body moved in unison with his and he waited for the first signs of her spasms; that slight irregularity in her movements he knew so well that signalled the arrival of her climax, and he wasn’t disappointed. Eduardo increased the ferocity of his thrusts and held his last one deep inside, motionless and waited for her convulsions to engulf and milk him. He felt her deep vagina quiver and contract against his cock and delighted when his own pulsations rose from deep inside to a series of fast and furious convulsions that sent his semen through his penis to feed her vagina. He was back in the cave down on the shore of Pene Verde de San Pedro, in that secluded cove and Carmen’s voice cried her cum into his ear while he pumped her cunt full of his precious fluid. He lifted his face out of her black mass of curls and sighed deeply. The young woman, the incarnation of his beloved Carmen, had made his old body come to live again. She smiled at him and he kissed her ruby-

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Toreador's Embrace red lips once more before he withdrew. He sat up and admired her curves, stroked every inch of her skin. Her hair was drenched with sweat and he stroked it out of her face. That's when he saw the scar. The right side of her head, just above and behind the ear, bore a scar where hair grew only scantily. “What scar is this?” Eduardo asked. He’d seen marks like this on people’s skin after they had been burned by fire. “I’m not sure. I remember the nuns fussed over me and applied sticky goo onto my head when I was very little. They said it was a burn, but I can’t remember any accident. Lucky it's under my thick curls, so people can’t see it.” She smiled at Eduardo who felt his blood drain from his face suddenly and sweat collect on his forehead. “Show me the medallion again.” Emanuellita reached for it in the folds of the sheets and found it. She handed it to Eduardo. It definitely was the original old insignia of the Ganaderia Magia Negra, a silver horseshoe and a black bull’s head on red background. Paolo Mendez changed it to simple silver and black bands when he took over the reins on the hacienda. Only a member of the Mendez family would have one of those medallions. They were handed down to the firstborn and by right, Julio should be in possession of this one, the others had long since vanished within the web of the family tree. That Emanuellita turned up with this old medallion and asked for its significance increased Eduardo’s bewilderment. “With the medallion, the nuns also gave me a few moth-eaten children’s clothes that I was supposed to

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J.J. Doulton have worn at the time they found me at their doorstep. I had no use for them, some of them were stained black, and I threw them away.” She whispered. Eduardo’s hands shook. He clearly remembered Paolo going back on his own to the hospital after the fire every day to see Maria. The day after Eduardo had handed him the box from the fireplace he went for the last time. He spent more time than usual and returned home in the night. The next day he broke the news that Maria had died of complications from smoke inhalations. He went to pick up her little coffin two days later to bury her next to her mother on the estate. It was a closed coffin as her face was too badly burned he told. “Where is the nunnery in which you grew up, Emanuellita?” Eduardo’s voice hardly obeyed him and the words came out husky and brittle. “Bogador, next to the thermal baths near the mountains.” She looked at him with a worried look. Paolo would have had enough time to drive to Bogador from the hospital and back within the day. In Eduardo’s mind there was no doubt. Emanuellita was his beloved Carmen’s daughter, Maria. He picked her up into his arms and cradled her, tears welled up in his eyes—he had found Maria. His mind reeled from this and he tried hard to comprehend why a father would do such a thing to his own daughter when she lay in hospital fighting for her life. “Maria.” He whispered. “Que?” He heard her ask. “Maria. You are Maria Mendez, the daughter of

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Toreador's Embrace Paolo and Carmen Mendez and sister of Julio Mendez. You look like your mother. Before she married Paolo we were lovers. When I saw you at the plaza de toros, I thought, her ghost had come back to me.” He laughed while tears streamed down his old cheeks. He told Maria of the box he found and that she would probably find the key to her life in there. It wasn’t midday yet and the sooner this puzzle was solved the better. He didn’t want to tell Julio that his sister had returned only to find that this wasn’t the case. Hurriedly Eduardo scribbled a few notes on a piece of paper with the hacienda’s stamp and handed it to Maria together with the address of the Mendez family’s notary. Then he called Miguel to drive Maria to Aldorra and any other place she required to visit and entrusted him to look after her. Just when the car drove away from the estate, Moses walked up from the stand of large trees behind the house, where the creek ran. “This lady is one beautiful woman. Tell me about her, Eduardo, I want to meet her.” Eduardo looked at him and found himself irrationally protective toward Maria. “Keep your eyes and hands off her,” is all he replied gruffly to Moses but knew by the look in the man’s eyes that this warning had the opposite effect to the intended. “Stick around, you might find out some more about Paolo Mendez soon.” Maria would return with the box and they would finally be able to do away with the skeletons in the Mendez’s closets. He looked at Moses from the side and quietly wondered how much his visitor actually knew.

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*** Julio’s red Ferrari was parked under the giant tree and Gina parked hers next to it. Lena was lost in a daydream and Gina had to nudge her to snap out of her reveries. Julio sat on the veranda off the lounge room with a cigar and a glass of Rioja. “Your bull was extraordinary, Julio.” Gina congratulated him on El Cid’s success and felt herself almost swept off her feet as he pulled her into an embrace and unusually emphatic kiss. He cupped the back of her head and nearly smothered her on his shoulder in his strong arms. I’m not going to leave this time, and this time she meant it; she would find a way to stay—forever. Ria and Juan Sanches had visited and brought some supplies along with Gina’s cleaned travel outfit. Ria had insisted on cooking for him and had produced an array of delectable foods; trigo, a stew with grains of wheat, pork, beans and herbs, and gachas, a hot and spicy clam stew as well as Julio’s favourite, escabeche e sardines, fresh sardines in a hot sauce. Lena’s voice interrupted. “Long time no see, Julio.” She grinned. “I thought I recognized that red mane of yours at the plaza. You haven’t changed a bit, you’re still as beautiful as ever, Lena.” He greeted her with a friendly embrace and kiss on the cheek. Cheek? He usually makes sure I see him kiss another

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Toreador's Embrace woman’s lips. She detected a subtle change in Julio’s demeanour, more focused on her than previously and surprised herself by finding a new respect for her lover. An hour later there wasn’t much left of Ria’s cooking and the third bottle of Rioja relinquished its last drop. Lena was tired and Julio’s face revealed the tension of the day’s feria. He seemed deep in thought with a seriousness that she had only witnessed once or twice about him; but he didn’t speak about it and she knew better than to probe. The tumultuous bullfight, meeting Lena, and Moses again, too much Sangria and smoke all still reeled around in Gina’s head and she was too revvedup to sleep and decided to sit on the veranda a little longer to calm herself and watch the night grow darker. After a short shower, she slipped into her robe and grabbed the book from the table in the lounge and kissed Julio and Lena goodnight “I won’t be long. I need to cool down, its too hot to sleep—besides, I don’t feel like facing any monsters right now.” It usually was after emotional exertion, on days like today, that nightmares haunted her sleep. ‘Ana’s Future’ promised to calm her. Carl checked the traps along the fence of the vegetable garden as there was always a nocturnal creature or two that got caught in them. A blood curdling scream from behind the far corner of the fence startled me and Carl’s voice called for help. My heart pounded

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J.J. Doulton against my chest, I stopped digging and started running toward the corner of the fence where the scream came from. I could see Carl kneeling on the ground holding his right hand with the other. “It got me good!” he cried. Paul, who was nearest to him, shouted “What got you?” “The snake!” Carl replied “It bit me, it didn’t want to let go! It was a black one.” We had no cure for snakebites. My heart ached. Carl knew it and so did everyone else. “Lets bring you home, Carl.” I grabbed hold of his hand and had a look; there were two bloody fang marks on the back of his hand. Aaron arrived and together with Paul helped Carl to his feet and took him home. They both held onto Carl as the shock weakened his strength. By the time they arrived at Carl’s dwelling, he already experienced breathing difficulties. Michael’s attempts to reverse the effects of the venom were unsuccessful. He was able to ease Carl’s discomfort and help him breathe a little easier, but the venom worked fast. He became

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Toreador's Embrace delirious and paralysis set in. I was still holding his hand; my God was holding onto his God. Then, Carl was no longer. The next day we lit another fire on the land spit. The traps would never be used again. Far from calming her, the writing stirred up more emotions in her. Quickly she turned a few pages with slight annoyance, to find a passage that better suited her mood. One of the regular talk friends was Abe, the son who took over from his old father when he died. He lived in Africa which was one of the worst hit by the global environment change. There were two separate continents in the process of being formed after the rupture across its centre. Nearly two thirds of its surface was uninhabitable because of the violent volcanic activity. Abe lived in the far southern tip of Africa. He looked different to everyone else I knew. He had near black skin. I asked Max about it and he explained the difference to me. Luck of the genetic draw, he joked. Same human family, different bloodlines. Abe was around my age. We talked about the extent of

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J.J. Doulton slavery in the world. Our isolation had saved us from slavery, but it had also distanced us from the possibility of other, beneficial contact with the rest of the world. Maybe hope was, after all, justified, we just weren’t aware of it. Abe revealed that he very nearly got caught when he smuggled food and clothing from the city into his community. The trading of goods was prohibited, preventing a workable chain of supplies and force the ‘free people’ into submission. The roles were reversed, he said. Today, prisons served a different purpose. Once the buildings were very effective in holding people in. Now they were used to keep people out. The ruling elite found they could no longer live in their unsecured residences. Too many assassinations had taken place. Old prisons were turned into fortified luxury dwellings from which the military, police and the army of slaves could be commanded. Most prison buildings incorporated vast underground tunnel systems, connecting different key areas of

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Toreador's Embrace the cities such as industrial estate, the food manufacturing complex, the water pump station etc, effectively and physically separating the lives of the rulers from the outside. Abe had found a way inside the food manufacturing complex and the industrial estate and had been helping himself and his community to much needed supplies. Because his most recent raid very nearly became his last he couldn’t risk another break in for quite some time. Abe signed off. As I looked up from Max’s computer and my eyes saw the surrounding landscape, I once again realised I was glad to live on this island. Max coughed and moaned. My attention returned to him. ‘Ana’s Future’ painted a world full of horror and despair. That’s not what she had in mind for her future; she planned to escape and make a happy world for herself and Julio. She put the book down and didn’t intend to pick it up again to finish reading it. She didn’t need fiction when she had a reality worth living right in front of her. She went upstairs; Julio stirred as she slipped under the sheet beside him. The night was quiet, the cool breeze dispersed the

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J.J. Doulton heat of the day and refreshing, dreamless sleep blessed her soon. Lena was already up when Gina and Julio woke and they found her study maps of the West African coastline in preparation for her adventurous flight. She looked up and invited them both to a test flight. Gina liked excitement in her life and a test flight in her friend's Cessna was tempting, so she accepted. Julio declined and indicated that there was some unfinished business he had to discuss with Eduardo. Another unfinished business at the hacienda, Gina mused. He’ll tell me soon enough. For the moment she was looking forward to the flight with Lena. Lena asked to use Gina’s phone since hers had a flat battery and she forgot to charge it the night before and rang up her contact at the small airport to ask them to have her Cessna ready for a test flight this morning. According to protocol she also announced that she would have a passenger, and she spelled Gina’s name out for the officer to effect the entry into the log book. Gina readied herself and the girls left after breakfast for the airstrip. Lena’s Cessna gleamed in the sunlight and the decal she had put on aptly depicted a curvy redhead in a flying ‘superman’ pose. Lena went over to the office and attended to the flight details and came back with the all clear. Gina took her seat next to Lena, headphones over her ears, microphone switched on, seatbelt tightened and felt the machine strain under the full throttle as Lena eased the bird into take-off. The earth dropped away beneath them, the engines roared with their

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Toreador's Embrace maximum thrust and slowly they climbed into the hazy Mediterranean summer air. They took off due East and Lena banked to take the plane into a westerly direction, toward Gibraltar and over the water. Gina looked down and spotted her villa, she couldn’t believe how much the shape of ‘her’ peninsula, Pene Verde de San Pedro, actually justified its name ‘Green Penis of Saint Peter’. A glint of red colour through the trees made her look closely and she spotted Julio’s convertible head toward the hacienda on the other side of the ‘penis’. She adored her piece of this Spanish hideaway. If only there were a way out of her father’s cruel will and she could live here forever. They glided past the Sierra Nevada and Lena banked slightly into the South West and headed toward the straight of Gibraltar. She pointed toward the famous rock with its monkeys, both in the proud hands of the English. To their left, the Moroccan coastline veered north to almost meet with the European continent and in between was the gap that had formed that gigantic waterfall over which the Atlantic waters had gushed and filled the Mediterranean basin some six million years ago. Gina tried to imagine the staggering immensity of the picture. She looked past the coastline and recognised a huge mountain chain on the distant horizon of the African continent. “The Atlas Mountains.” Lena explained over the microphone. “That’s where we’re flying to first, to film—then we head south.” Gina nodded. Lena had explained the purpose of the adventure flight with the

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J.J. Doulton others—they had been hired to fly the cameras for a documentary about Africa. In front of them, the Atlantic opened itself up. Gina had flown over this water so many times, but always at great heights. Flying over the ocean this low gave her an even greater understanding of the insignificance of the organism on this planet that was commonly referred to as the human race. “The engines are performing well with the added weight.” Lena’s voice came over her earphones. They quietly let the aeroplane take them out over the Atlantic for some time, both admired the blueness of the sky above them and the waters below them. Gina looked at her friend and admired the redhead for her courage. Lena banked and turned the nose of her machine homeward and, with a smile, pointed to a switch that said ‘autopilot’. Oh no! I hope she knows what she’s doing. Gina became alarmed and bemused at the same time. “This is a new system.” Lena’s voice explained “I’m testing it for the first time.” That explanation didn’t help to reassure Gina and instinctively, her hands reached for something solid to hang onto. Lena must have noticed her reaction and laughed through the earphones. “Don’t worry, I won’t let it out of sight. If it plays up, I’ll take over again—simple.” Gina followed her movements with some trepidation as she flicked the switch. There was a slight change in the pitch of the engines as the ‘autopilot’ took over, recalculating whatever the on-

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Toreador's Embrace board flight computer was meant to recalculate and as smoothly as before, the plane kept heading toward the distant Iberian peninsula. Slowly, Gina’s trepidation gave way to her usual relaxed demeanour as the plane quietly followed its route and she enjoyed Lena’s company, chatting about the upcoming trip to Africa with her. But suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by the chocking noise of one of the engines. Lena hurriedly took over the controls and slammed down onto the ‘autopilot’ switch to turn it off. But something had gone wrong and one of the engines had cut out. With sickening speed, the machine went into a spin and headed in a great hurry toward the surface of a very uninviting looking Atlantic ocean. Gina felt her screams tear past her vocal chords, but couldn’t hear much as the other engine screamed louder than she could. Lena’s knuckles had turned white on the controls as Gina watched her strain with all her strength to right the aeroplane before they were too low to swoop. Gina still screamed in terror, as the black abyss that was the Atlantic, came closer and closer in a spinning motion. She looked at her friend and realised that she wanted her to help pull the lever back. She clenched her fists over Lena’s and exerted all the strength she could find. Slowly the lever eased back and after a few agonisingly slow seconds, Lena had the Cessna back under control. They swooped with a few meters to spare and glided over the glittering ocean while Lena manipulated the controls in an attempt to start the idle engine back into action. After a few tries it hesitantly obeyed and

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J.J. Doulton slowly they climbed back to cruising height. Gina and Lena looked at one another. “That was close.” Lena said over the microphone. “What a rush! We could have vanished without a trace.” Relieved they broke out in laughter but didn’t attempt to test anything else. Just getting back on the ground was priority number one and repairing what needed to be repaired. On terra firma, Gina accompanied Lena to meet with the engineer at the airstrip. Both agreed that the fuel supply was compromised and this needed to be fixed before Lena was to depart for Oran. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this had been tampered with. But there was no one near the plane since you landed. Maybe it happened back in Mallorca,” the engineer surmised, more to himself than anyone else. Lena filled out the logbook accordingly and the girls headed for Aldorra to find Lena’s friend, the second pilot of the expedition. Gina put the near-fatal incident out of her mind as quickly as possible. Only much later did she find out that an investigation had revealed that, indeed, Lena’s plane had been tampered with on that occasion. He wasn’t at all what Gina had expected. He had a three-day growth, his hair looked as if it hadn’t seen a brush in weeks, his shirt was half in and half outside the faded jeans and there were no shoes on his feet. Lena flung herself around his neck and slid her hands teasingly up under his loose shirt. She looked back at Gina and winked “But boy, can he fly.” “Don’t be shy.” He grabbed Gina’s hair and pulled her toward him. Her body met his with a crushing

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Toreador's Embrace thud and he forced a huge tongue inside her mouth with a kiss that tasted of smoke and felt as unkempt as he looked. “Wait until I tell you about our test flight this morning.” “I can’t wait.” He replied with a laconic overtone. He invited them in and led them through a quaint, square courtyard, Moorish in style and symmetry, and inside the darkened and cool apartment that he had rented for the duration of his stay in this town. Gina’s nostrils picked up the scent of pot. It just added to the surreal flavour of the day. The old and worn sofa was the only comfortable seating in the room, next to the unmade mattress on the floor. She still reeled from this morning’s incident and sat down. She shook and realised that she experienced mild shock. Lena noticed and made her lie down and put her legs up. Soon Gina felt better and her old self again. “I could do with a drink.” Lena’s friend—she still didn’t know his name— poured a glass of rum for her and went to look for two more. He came back with a wine glass and a whisky tumbler. As if he could read her mind he introduced himself “I’m Rodolfo, by the way.” Gina lifted her glass in his direction “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Rodolfo,” and took a sip. Lena and Rodolfo chatted about their pending Africa expedition and Gina relaxed and drifted off on the deep, soft sofa. Suddenly there was a nudge on her shoulder and Lena held an immense joint in front of her face while she blew blue smoke toward the high ceiling. Gina accepted it and took a couple of

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J.J. Doulton deep puffs, inhaled deeply and held her breath while she handed it over to Rodolfo. She felt his eyes on her figure as he leant over from his bed to the sofa to take back the joint. Her glass had been topped up and she took a few greedy sips, then lay back against the sofa and let the intoxication creep through her veins. At a distance, she heard Lena tell Rodolfo how they nearly went down over the Atlantic and that, had she been on her own, she wouldn’t have made it. Gina’s head spun and she couldn’t follow their conversation any longer. Her eyes couldn’t focus and the entire room began to weave in and out of focus. Rodolfo filled her glass again and Gina gratefully emptied it, as she was thirsty. From somewhere he produced another joint and it, too, made its rounds like the first one. Gina’s fingers tingled first, then her toes and her head became inflated and then she floated above herself and watched her own body. She woke and looked into Lena’s face. “Gina, wake up.” She sat up with a start—the plane! … but then realised she wasn’t trapped in a Cessna that was about to crash into the ocean. Her eyes were burning and her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth. “I better go home.” Her voice croaked and almost frightened her. “I’ll show you to the bathroom to freshen up, darling.” Lena helped her up from the low sofa where she had spent the last two hours unconscious from the effects of shock, alcohol and dope. After a cool shower, Gina bid Lena and Rodolfo farewell and left them with her best wishes for their

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Toreador's Embrace expedition. Despite the long shower, she felt weighed down with dross. Drained and empty, she steered her virgin white sports car along the Costa Aldorra toward what she perceived to be her real home, the Pene Verde de San Pedro peninsula in Spain’s South East, not the sterile and pompous corporate boardrooms in L.A. She was even more determined than before not to return to that life, as every new attempt to escape, year after year, she realised, made her more vulnerable to self-destruction. Julio’s brooding demeanour of the past couple of days haunted her too. What’s going on with him? The dread of losing him suddenly became so real and larger than life she felt a lump rise in her throat that exploded in an uncontrollable sobbing convulsion. The road before her disappeared in a whirl of salty tears and she had to stop the car. “Julio!” she cried and knew then what she wanted most of all in her life—to be with her Spanish toreador for the rest of her life. She calmed herself and hurried back onto the road, she couldn’t wait to be in his arms. Her car skidded to a halt next to his on the gravel in front of her villa. She jumped out, ran inside where he sat on his own in the lounge room and watched the dusk deepen as night fell. Her tears had reddened her eyes and they still flowed when she stormed in his arms “I can’t do this any more, Julio, my father punishes me from his grave for not being a son and the prison he built is killing me.” “Leave L.A. and stay,” was all he said. It was a simple answer, but she knew that of all the choices, this would be the most important one she had to

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J.J. Doulton make. She was prepared to leave her inheritance to a bunch of greedy, power hungry autocrats who would swoop onto this fortune like the vultures they were. “Hold me, Julio.” She closed her eyes as her head sank onto his shoulder and she felt protected and cradled like the first time Julio held her, some twentyfive years ago after she fell and grazed her knees. His embrace was as natural as eating, breathing and sleeping to her and her chest filled with a warm and sensual feeling that only emerged in Julio’s arms. He stroked her neck with the tip of his fingers and let them slide toward her chin. She parted her lips to kiss them and felt them follow the contours of her mouth until her tongue caught them and lured them inside. She felt his body tense as she sucked his fingers and nestled closer into his arms with her back toward him. He pulled her close and held his hands over her tits and her bush. She felt his penis rise against the small of her back, and the resultant arousal from his caress lulled her into a blissful state of letting go. He turned her onto her belly and she arched her back to accommodate his cock between her buttocks and spread her legs for him. She felt his lips kiss the nape of her neck and his tongue wander along the side and toward her ear. The gentle slithering sent shivers up and down her spine. He whispered his passion into her ear, meaningless words, designed to stimulate her body for him. The more provocative the words the stronger his grip on her became as he not only aroused hers but also his own horniness. She felt his fingers steal from her juices and smear

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Toreador's Embrace the liquid between her thighs and along the entire cunt. His prick pushed between her slippery lips, all the way to the front until the tip made contact with her clit. She slid her hands under her pelvis and reached the tip of his penis and played with it. She gently squeezed the tip of her finger into his piss hole, which elicited a deep-throated moan from his chest. At the same time she played with herself, tickled the clitoris that gave her body so much pleasure and rubbed it against his hard flesh. “I want to fuck you this way, Gina.” She heard him whisper and felt him move, slide his cock back and forth along her hot and slippery lips and push into the palm of her hand. The delicious feeling intensified the longer he maintained his rhythm. “I’ll spout into your hands, Gina,” he announced and sped into his orgasm with a series of fast stabbing thrusts. She felt his semen ooze into her hands and felt its heat. He released her when his weight became too much for her to breathe and turned her around to face him. She smeared his cum all over herself, between her legs, over her belly and breasts—she wanted so badly to imbue her skin with his aroma, his scent. His fingers took over and she found herself squirm with lust at his treatment of her clit and cunt. Artfully he stroked her inside, deeply massaged her flesh and manipulated her into her own orgasm. Gently it came, rose from his fingertip into her blood and coursed through her veins in an instant and crashed her lust into a feverish crescendo. ***

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Absentmindedly, Maria watched a small plane take off from Aldorra’s airstrip while Miguel drove the car along the coastal road just outside San Pedro. She held it in her view until it turned westward over the Mediterranean waters. Soon it became a mere speck in the sky and vanished in the blink of an eye. She could hardly believe that this simple medallion led her here and to a family she never knew she had. She prayed that the contents of the mysterious box Eduardo mentioned would prove it so because she had simply grown tired of her life in Barcelona. She was a well paid escort, an exclusive whore, but a whore nonetheless. Maria’s driver parked the car right in front of the offices of the Mendez family’s notary. Miguel reassured her that he would not move from the spot when she explained that she might be some time. She entered and announced herself at the desk. An elderly gentlemen well into his sixties, like Eduardo, greeted her and accompanied her into the backrooms where he showed her to the elevator doors. He opened the black wrought iron grates and slid the ornate wooden doors back and bade her to enter the lift. They descended two floors and exited in the fortified basement through another set of ornate wooden doors and black wrought-iron grates into a room that contained rows upon rows of safety deposit boxes. Maria mused at the possible contents of them—what secrets they would reveal. Her nose picked up the musty smell that lingered in this underground

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Toreador's Embrace chamber and for a moment she wondered how dark it would be if the lights went out. The well-dressed elderly gentleman showed her box number 1765 and opened the first of two locked lids. Paolo Mendez, so he explained, never wanted the second key and so it remained with his office until now. He handed Maria a small key that fitted into the lock of the second lid and pointed to a row of small private rooms with a chair and a small desk each with paper and pencil neatly arranged. The old doors could only be locked from the inside, which gave the occupant the necessary privacy when they dealt with their box’s contents. Maria watched the elderly gentleman disappear inside the elevator and unlocked the second lid of the safety deposit box. The internal drawer slid out completely and allowed Maria to remove it in its entirety and take it to the nearest private office for examination. There were stacks of bundled documents inside, envelopes with old deeds but most importantly of all, there was an old, beat up tin box, rusty and stained, and Maria guessed that this was the very same box that Eduardo told her he’d found after the fire. With trembling hands she took it out of the steel drawer and held it for a while before she opened it. She knew this box held her entire life inside, both past and future. It once was a pretty tin with roses and birds embossed and painted but had lost all its colour over the years. Dents adorned its shabby appearance but for reasons unclear to her, she loved it the moment she touched it.

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J.J. Doulton Slowly, hesitantly she opened the lid and her eyes fell on a small pale blue diary, the lock of which had been forced open long ago, presumably because there was no key. Under the small book there was a letter. The envelope had been opened, although it was addressed to her. The writing was pretty and ornate but she didn’t recognise it. She pulled out the letter. The ink had been smeared and marks of black fingerprints were evident along the edges. Her heart beat so hard in her chest that she nearly fainted. When she had calmed herself she began to read:

My dearest baby, when you read this letter, I will be dead. I must commit my secret to paper so that it may one day come to light as I do not wish to take it to my grave. You are but a few weeks away from being born and I feel a heaviness and foreboding like never before. For reasons I cannot fathom, I fear that if I do not write to you now, you will never know me. You are my child, but although you will grow up to know Paolo Mendez as your father, know that this is not so. Your father is John William Forbes, an American who took me by force, against my will and callously and brutally raped me while his own wife was pregnant with their first child. You have a half-brother, Julio Mendez who is a year older than you. I have kept this secret until now but no longer. The diary in this box is for you to read, how I felt and how I kept living after what that man had done to me. I hope it will give you strength in your own life if, God forbid, you are faced with a difficult road ahead. Please know that I love you the way only a mother can. Carmen

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Toreador's Embrace Mendez (nee Ramos). Maria’s eyes filled with tears that soaked her handkerchief the moment she began reading the letter. There was a knock at the door and she recognised the voice of the elderly gentleman who announced himself. She unlocked the door and he looked at her with concern but being the gentleman that he was, he pulled out his own immaculate white handkerchief from the chest pocket of his coat and handed it to Maria with the slightest of bows, and the offer to keep it. She thanked him. Then he handed her an additional envelope. “I almost forgot this. Your mother deposited this with our office before you were born with the express instruction not to keep it with the other Mendez documents until your father, Paolo Mendez had died. She made it quite clear that she did not wish her husband to know of the envelope’s contents. We pride ourselves at keeping the privacy of our clients as our highest priority. Paolo Mendez has been dead for a year and this envelope should rightly be placed inside the safety deposit box.” With that he excused himself and closed the door behind him to leave Maria to deal with the documents. The new envelope was sealed and addressed to Julio Mendez, written in the same handwriting as the letter, and she left it sealed. She sat down again and started to read. The diary began shortly after the rape and detailed exactly how J.W. Forbes had attacked her, how she tried to get away, in the old villa and how he threw her onto the old wooden staircase and

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J.J. Doulton clamped his hand around her throat so she couldn’t scream and how he dragged her to his and his wife’s bedroom on the first floor. She even described the weather—it had been hot and humid that fateful day. She had visited from the hacienda to bring produce to Mrs. Forbes, who was pregnant then, but had only found him as his wife was in town. Day by day, her mother put on paper the anguish she went through, the feelings of worthlessness, the physical damage and pain this brutal penetration had caused, the hatred toward the man, her thoughts of suicide, keeping up the pretence in her marital bed and the desperate feelings when she found out that she was pregnant with the child of a rapist. Maria sat for over an hour and read every line in that diary. The last entry was made the day before she was born and it described how Carmen expected to hold her baby by this time the next day. There were no further entries. She closed the diary and folded the letter again and put both back into the battered tin box. She placed the letter addressed to Julio, her halfbrother, into the box also. Maria examined each piece of paper and the contents of every envelope that had been placed in the steel drawer as if the one who placed the documents here, had discarded them. They were carelessly thrown inside with many torn or crumpled. She came across her birth certificate, which showed Paolo Mendez as her father, but the name had been crossed out with angry strokes that cut through the tough paper in places. There was a note, written by someone with a lot of anger—and Maria assumed by

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Toreador's Embrace the initials P.M. that it was the handwriting of Paolo Mendez—and detailed that he took Maria from the hospital and brought her to the convent at Bogador as he could no longer guarantee the safety of the child now that he knew she wasn’t his. The note also mentioned that he would avenge the rape of his wife that ended in her death. Now Maria knew why the diary ended so abruptly. Her mother never had the chance to take the diary and the letter for safekeeping to the notary’s office. She felt much sadness at the knowledge that her birth caused her mother to die. The rest of the documents dealt with money and estate matters, deeds of one sort or another and old family matters that didn’t concern her—except for the very last document inside the drawer. This document was another birth certificate, and an old one at that, but the name on it intrigued her. Eduardo Rodriguez—this was old Eduardo’s birth certificate. She decided to take this with her as well, as the name of his father read Ricardo Mendez. Miguel was asleep behind the wheel of the car when Maria left the notary’s office. Maria had folded all documents neatly and placed them together with her mother’s diary and letter inside the battered old tin box. She got into the car with the tin under her arm and wanted to do but one thing—tell the entire world that she was Maria Mendez and that she had just found her family again. She embraced unsuspecting Miguel and kissed him on both cheeks and on his forehead and asked him to drive her home. Bewildered he obeyed “Sì, senorita.”

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J.J. Doulton She had spent all afternoon in the vault of the notary’s offices, and night blackened the Costa Aldorra when they turned off toward the hacienda. In the morning she would present the treasure she unearthed to everybody concerned, but tonight she intended to make an old man happy one more time. Eduardo greeted her at the door when she returned and was visibly elated. She showed him the battered old tin box, and he recognised it immediately as the one he discovered in the burnt out room inside the stone fireplace surround. “Our lives are in here, Eduardo, and tomorrow we’ll be a family again—I may not be a Mendez, but I am Maria, Carmen’s daughter.” Eduardo looked at her, but his face didn’t reveal whether or not he had understood the significance of her words. She felt his eyes on her, follow her around the room, those deep pools of emotion that were unfathomable to her. She slung her arms around his powerful torso and kissed his naked chest through the open shirt. He lifted her into his arms and carried her back into his room. She was finally free and he had been the one to bring it about, and she wanted to be his Carmen for one more night. She cast off her role-play as the initiating escort, the seductress with the bag of many tricks and let him guide her into his way of lovemaking. Gently he caressed her and she felt safe in the arms of a man for the first time in her life. He unbuttoned her blouse slowly and it dropped to the floor. With his teeth he grabbed the ribbon that tied her camisole over her breasts and pulled it open, then he slid one finger under the straps of her flimsy top and slid

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Toreador's Embrace them over her shoulders until it, too, dropped to the floor. His hands cupped her tits and he kissed the nipples, one after the other and alternated between them, as if he couldn’t decide which one to taste first, until they had completely contracted and hardened into dark brown little knobs. His lips walked up over her breasts, nibbled at her exposed throat and closed over her own quivering lips. She had never felt a thirst like this in any man before—Eduardo drank every little drop of sweat, every tear, every breath of hers that he was able to find. His kiss penetrated her entire body and the room suddenly swirled around her. He caught her and laid her onto his bed. He stood in front of her and looked at her with such intensity that she felt his gaze would burn through her skin. She watched him take off his shirt and expose his muscular and well-built brown shoulders, his chest and firm stomach. His hands nimbly opened the buckle on the leather belt around his waist and he pulled it out of its loops—it dropped to the floor next to her clothes. The buttons of his coarse ranchero trousers willingly slipped out of their holes. Maria wondered how he had thus far managed to keep his penis from rising and watched him as he slipped out of his loose shorts. Then he stood in his naked glory for her eyes to feast upon. He kept his black eyes on her and didn’t move. Maria almost forgot to breathe when she realised that he was about to demonstrate the powerful control that he had over every fibre in his body. No man that had ever touched her could prevent his cock from hardening in excitement, yet Eduardo had made her almost faint,

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J.J. Doulton but remained calm himself. He stood motionless except for his eyes that moved over her body. She bathed in his beguiling gaze and moved her hands along the burning tracks that his penetrating stare left behind on her skin. Her fingers followed him between her thighs and slowly spread them for him to see. She played with her cunt, parted the lips, contracted and relaxed her trained flesh and offered herself to his might. She never took her eyes off him and watched in astonishment as he finally allowed his penis to rise, not slowly, but with one huge pumping action. As she watched him display himself it sent painful pangs of anticipation through her belly and she heard herself gasp for air. But the teasing had only just begun as she was about to find out. He approached her and she expected him to ravish her in one huge embrace, but not so. He leaned over her, his knees on either side of her and with his hands caressed every inch of her body. His old cock seemingly took on a life of its own when he directed his body so that it would stroke her, slide over her belly, nudge into her belly button then climb higher and creep between her tits. He held her arms stretched out to either side and pinned her down with his strong hands. The only part of his body that touched her was his cock. It made its way around both of her tits, found the hollow in her armpits and climbed even higher as it slithered over her throat and found its way between her lips. Oh how she wanted to drink him, but he wouldn’t let her. His penis just danced around within reach of her tongue, agonisingly close, just so she could touch

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Toreador's Embrace the tip of it and lick the crystal drop. He retreated along the same route of her body until he reached her cunt and continued his game. His prick slid between her lips and teased her waiting vagina, but didn’t press into her desperate flesh and instead slid further, made contact with her backslice and gently nudged against its barrier; and then squeezed its way between her buttocks before it retreated from there also. He released her arms and moved back so that his hands had free reign over her body. Slowly but firmly he parted her lips and pushed inside her with two of his fingers while at the same time stimulated her clit to perfection. He wanted her to explode in his hands first, he whispered to her, and Maria felt herself let go of all restraint. She was being fucked by an old master and every fibre in her body screamed her appreciation. The strong, experienced fingers worked her flesh so wonderfully that she couldn’t help but fuck his hands as if it were his cock. The fingertips had found her spot and she squealed every time they passed over it until her cum released her lust in one endless spasm. She heard him laugh and spur her on—the old man played with her as if she was his toy. His hands between her legs never tired and the fingers remained inside her. Her body jerked with each rub over her clit; it felt enormous, the moisture that oozed from her cunt soaked everything around her and still the old man teased her and fed her horniness. Her pelvis never stopped to move under his provoking stimulation. “Its time,” she heard his voice, and felt his hands withdraw only to have her void filled with the

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J.J. Doulton salacious thrusts of his erect penis. He rolled onto his back and propped her up. She sat on his cock that filled her so completely she almost burst and began to ride him. He bucked under her and repeatedly stabbed his prick as far into her as he could reach until she moaned and shook. She felt his strong hands clamped tight around her tits and one last and furious stab inside her belly had her succumb to another climax so powerful that all she could see were glittering stars in a black, velvet sky. His juices rose at such a feverish rate that she overflowed long before he ceased to explode. She had no strength left, and gently he lowered her next to his body where she remained the entire night. The last thing she remembered was Eduardo pulling the blanket over her before she fell asleep. Maria woke on Tuesday morning to the sensation of being kissed on the shoulders and breasts and opened her eyes. Eduardo’s face was close to hers and he looked straight into her eyes “Buenos dìas,” he whispered and she returned his welcome and kissed him back. He informed her that he had already phoned Julio and informed him of the turn of events and that he and Gina should be present at the disclosure of the contents of the old tin box. Maria felt her excitement dampened at the prospect of having to disclose that Carmen, her mother, his old lover, had been raped by J.W. Forbes and that she was the result from that rape. “Eduardo.” She hesitated but when she looked into his eyes she decided it was the correct thing to do. “Eduardo, you have to know something before we

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Toreador's Embrace open the box when everyone is here. You will have to decide whether it shall remain a secret or whether it shall be laid bare.” She took a deep breath and told him what she had read in her mother’s diary and the letter addressed to her. His face remained blank during Maria’s account of Carmen’s diary, but his hands shook when he pulled her toward him and held her tight. She couldn’t begin to imagine the turmoil that went on inside of him, knowing what torture the love of his life had endured during her last year. He held her close and she knew that he said his last goodbye to Carmen.

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Chapter Eight: Amor

G

ina woke on Tuesday morning when she heard Julio talk on the phone. He came back to the bedroom and informed Gina, “Eduardo sounds very mysterious. He called to say that he had a visitor and that we should hear what she had to say. I was at the hacienda yesterday afternoon and went for a ride by myself, but he never once mentioned a woman. I only met the American visitor, Moses, and his pierced tongue.” He looked at her from the corner of his eyes. Hurriedly they readied themselves and before long Julio parked the Ferrari in front of the hacienda. Eduardo waited for them at the entrance and Gina noticed the youthful potency that his body language expressed. Inside, Eduardo introduced them to a beautiful young woman with gorgeous dark brown, almondshaped eyes and dense brows that nearly met over the bridge of the nose. Gina didn’t believe what she saw. This woman was the ghost she had encountered three

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Toreador's Embrace times on the road that night when she drove home from Aldorra. She resisted the urge to ask her about that night; she was convinced that her mind had played tricks on her. The ruby-red lips were full and sensuous and the face was framed by a mass of black curls with large golden earrings that dangled from her lobes. The curves of her figure would put any pin-up or centrefold in the shadow; the olive green satin fabric of her tightly fitted dress underscored the bronze tone of her skin. “This is Emanuellita.” Eduardo interrupted the silence and introduced everyone. Gina caught a movement in the far corner and realised that Moses had been in the room the entire time. She could hardly see him against the bright light of the window. He sat in the corner next to it, with his eyes examining the entire scene. He left his seat and came over to greet them before Eduardo led the way into the lounge room. Gina noticed that Julio had not taken his eyes off Emanuellita and it seemed to her as if something about her had stirred him up. With a shaky voice, Emanuellita explained that her name was Maria Mendez and that the battered old tin box in her hands contained the lives of everyone in this room, except Moses. No sooner had she spoken her first words was she interrupted as Julio stood up and stepped closer to her “Maria?” “Yes, Julio, I am your little sister.” With a halfsuppressed cry he grabbed her, embraced her, buried her face on his chest and cradled her so tightly that

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J.J. Doulton she couldn’t breathe. She struggled free and tried to calm him “There is much more to come, Julio, and what this box will reveal is going to make you even happier—and sad, too,” she whispered and returned his embrace, crying and kissing him. Then she pulled away and reluctantly he let her escape his embrace and sat down next to her but refused to let go of her hand for fear that she might slip away again. One by one Gina watched her take the documents out of the box and disclose every tragic detail of their family history. She watched Eduardo’s face turn pale as his birth certificate revealed his real name, which made him a half-brother to Paolo Mendez. His own brother knew his identity and never disclosed it. The document also revealed that his mother was a fullblooded gipsy woman and obviously had been his father’s bit on the side. Gina sat in her chair and reeled from the revelations, stunned at her father’s sadistic cruelty; her earlier nightmares fitting every little detail from the little blue book. She was dizzy and unable to think a single coherent thought. Suddenly, she had a half sister. She tried to get out of her chair to run outside—she couldn’t breathe in here—but her legs wouldn’t carry her and suddenly, the floor rose toward her and she collapsed into Moses’ arms. She came to when she heard Julio call her name and looked up. Suddenly the possibility of Julio being her brother became tangibly real, and this thought sent tears of utter panic into her eyes. He fanned her face with an envelope in his hands and a concerned look. Maria handed her a glass of cold water and soon she gained enough composure to sit

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Toreador's Embrace back up. What’s next? was all she could think of. Julio looked at the envelope in his hands. This was the only thing that hadn’t been opened and its contents disclosed yet. With visible trepidation, Julio tore the envelope open and pulled out a single sheet of paper. He began to read and as he realised that this was his mother's words to him, his voice failed and he struggled to keep his tears back. With a breaking voice he continued.

My dearest son, Julio, I know it will be many years before these words reach you but you must know the truth. Paolo Mendez was not your father. Eduardo and I were lovers but I was too young and made the mistake of choosing the wrong man, and money before love. I was unable to let go of my passion for Eduardo and one night of indiscretion led to your birth. Eduardo Rodriguez is your real father. I pray you will find it within your heart to forgive my sin as I will always love you, my son. Your mother, Carmen Mendez (nee Ramos). The letter shook in Julio’s hand and slipped out of his grasp. Eduardo’s face had turned grey and Gina was afraid for him. Then she saw the men look at one another and the old man’s lips formed the silent words my son. Julio shook and the men embraced— they held one another for a long time before the colour came back into Eduardo’s face and Julio managed to steady his voice. No-one spoke and after a while Moses, who had

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J.J. Doulton until now kept his quiet distance, cleared his throat and approached the table where the array of documents and letters lay and picked out the note with the initials P.M. Quietly he said “Since Paolo Mendez is dead and this note from him—and we’ll find that it is his handwriting—is as good as a confession, there are no further investigations to conduct.” Gina stared at him blankly. “What investigations?” she asked. He quickly explained to her what no one had thought to tell her up to now, that he was on the hacienda to solve the mystery of her father’s death and that he was from the FBI. “There is one last thing I have to reveal about myself.” She heard Maria’s voice and looked around. Moses remained next to her. “I don’t know how you will take this, but it’s better coming from me than any other source. When I left the convent on my twentieth birthday, I went to Barcelona…” she paused as this clearly was uncomfortable for her to divulge, “ … and began to work as a courtesan. I am a well-paid escort, a luxury whore. It was the only thing I knew how to do well. The nunnery was right next door to the monastery, and plenty of desperate monks knew the secret access through the tunnels.” She stopped and buried her face in her hands. “Oh no.” Eduardo pulled her into his arms and consoled her “You survived the best you knew how. You belong here now. We are your family and we love you.” Gina reflected on how one man’s cruel act had dire consequences in the lives of so many people all these years later. She glanced sideways at Moses

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Toreador's Embrace who intently studied Maria. Absentmindedly he moistened his lips with his tongue and Gina thought she could see a hint of more than just desire in the FBI man’s eyes. Julio and Maria began piecing together their childhood with the tiny fractions of memories they had left and excused themselves as they went for a walk. Gina was relieved that Julio had not suddenly turned into her brother, and she smiled as she watched them slowly amble toward the small stream around the back of the hacienda. Eduardo slowly folded all the documents away and Gina helped him. Moses announced his intention to leave as soon as he could get a flight out of Spain now that his business had been brought to closure, and went about organising his departure. “How is your pet bull?” She asked the old man and elicited a smile from him. He was used to being stirred about the black beast being his pet, since the price bull had been hand reared by him but, although it used to follow him around as a youngster, he wouldn’t be able to turn his back on it now. “Let’s go and see him.” He invited her. They walked over to El Cid’s enclosure and checked on him. The wounds had begun to heal and the black beast seemed content in his coral. The sun stood high and the Mediterranean summer heat was relentless. Gina retreated toward the horse’s stables where a cool breeze blew through the open building that was shaded by huge elm trees. She looked through the wrought iron enclosure at the magnificent stallion

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J.J. Doulton inside. It dozed in the midday heat and she didn’t want to disturb it. As she stepped back she collided with Eduardo who had followed her and stood behind her and looked over her shoulders at the horse. Like the gentleman he was, he apologised and made room for her to step back. “Tell me more about the monster that is supposed to haunt the peninsula, Eduardo.” “The monster?” She watched a grin appear on his face. “That monster was invented by Julio’s grandfather, Ricardo Mendez. Before this part of the peninsula was divided up and sold to your father, the Mendez bulls used to roam free all around here, right down to all the beaches. He had large herds. A young woman once came down to the beach to bathe, so we were told, and stumbled into the path of an irate bull. Coincidence had it that Ricardo was nearby and recognised the danger of the situation. He rode in the path of the beast and distracted it long enough for the girl to run to safety and climb up a few rocks, out of harms way. She was that beside herself with fear that it didn’t take much effort on Ricardo’s part to convince the girl that a monster haunted the peninsula that could turn into a bull at will and ravish any virgin foolish enough to stray in his territory. It was designed to keep people away from the peninsula so they wouldn’t get themselves in strife with one of his bulls. The girl re-told the story of her near-fatal encounter and Ricardo did his bit to promulgate the monster story.”

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Toreador's Embrace “I must have heard this story as a child, Eduardo, because in one of my nightmares, this monster appeared and turned into my ugly father, choking a woman and raping her—the same woman that appeared to me three times on my drive home from town the same night. The woman looked like Maria.” Eduardo looked at her for a moment. “Maria looks like her mother, Carmen. When I first saw her outside the plaza on Sunday, I thought I’d seen a ghost. I believed her to be Carmen.” An uneasy feeling came over Gina. Has Carmen come from the other side to bring about the events that had just taken place? Quickly she tried to shake it off, but the realisation had taken form in her mind. “Why would Carmen choose me, even talk to me, Eduardo, why would she choose to contact me?” “Who better than you, the daughter of her assailant?” The silver stallion stirred, snorted and shook its head with the long dark mane. The white of its eyes showed in its wide-open gaze. Its nostrils flared and it stomped nervously around his enclosure and snorted again. “They are sensitive creatures.” Eduardo quietly looked around but couldn’t see anything that could unnerve his horses. “We’ll never know everything, Gina, but one thing is certain, we mustn’t let the dead rule our lives.” “My father has had control over my entire life, but no more. I’ll stay here, I won’t return to L.A. No matter the consequences, he is dead and has no more right to reach out from the grave, not now.” She had

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J.J. Doulton never hated anyone, not even J.W. Forbes until this day. The disclosure of the rape changed her attitude toward him and she wished he was alive so she could let him receive the punishment that was rightfully his. “I hate him.” Her clenched teeth made her jaws ache. “Hate will destroy you. Let go of hate and you free yourself from your father. You can no more change the events of the past than you can set the future so you can walk straight into it. Let the past go— forgiveness is freedom, believe me, I’ve been there. Look at what you’ve got, take it with both hands and enjoy it, hate will prevent you from living your life.” Deep in her heart she knew he spoke the truth and suddenly, a wave of emotions came flooding up from her soul and she collapsed onto Eduardo’s chest, sobbing like a young child. He put his arms around her shoulders and cradled her and, suddenly, she knew what it meant to have a father. He kissed her on her forehead and stroked her hair. “Now I know why my son is so besotted with you.” Eduardo smiled at her. “There is one more thing that you ought to know.” The smile on his face disappeared and the seriousness of his announcement made her pay attention. “Oh?” “After your father had died, your mother became very lonely and found comfort in Paolo’s arms for a while.” Gina didn’t remember much about that time because she had been sent to a boarding school after the funeral and didn’t see much of her mother, except during the summer vacations. Eduardo continued.

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Toreador's Embrace “Remember, by that time, Paolo knew that her husband had raped his wife and that Carmen had died as a consequence at childbirth. Your mother became pregnant.” Eduardo paused. “And?” “I know now, since your father’s deeds have been revealed, that Paolo took her as his price, a kind of punishment for her husband’s treachery, you could say, and didn’t care much for her pregnancy. She came to the villa on her own just before the baby was due. She confided in me and asked me to help her— she didn’t want to have this child. By that time your mother had already succumbed to bouts of serious depression and was dependent on medication. I helped her bring the baby into the world and she asked me to give it away. I knew a couple in San Pedro who had tried for years to conceive a child but without success. I brought the baby to them but didn’t tell them whose it was. I lied and told them that I’d found him on our doorstep. I felt very sad for your mother.” “Him? A boy? I have a brother? Where is he?” Her voice cracked. “He doesn’t know that he is adopted and he is not to find out unless his parents decide to tell him. His name is Antonio Sanches—Ria and Juan Sanches are his adoptive parents.” Gina’s chin dropped and she stared at Eduardo in disbelief. “That’s Romano’s new lover. He’s my brother? I never knew, Eduardo, there was no mention in any of her papers after she died.” Sadness for her mother and at the same time an incredible

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J.J. Doulton elation at having received a sister and a brother in the same day caused her tears to well up again. She had never cried this much in her entire life, not even at the deaths of her parents. “Oh, Eduardo.” She put her arms around the old man’s neck and was allowed to do what her father had never permitted—she cried her eyes out on his strong shoulders. She felt a hand on her arm and heard Julio’s soft voice “Gina.” She looked around and found Julio stand beside her and Eduardo. “How long have you been in here?” She asked between sobs. “Long enough to hear what Eduardo just told you. I noticed the stallions stir and thought I better investigate.” He grinned at her and stated the obvious “What a family we have,” and added when Gina’s eyes looked past him “Maria has gone back to the house.” Eduardo released her with a kiss on her forehead and it felt as if he handed her to his son in an oldfashioned gesture of approval. She knew she was home. After they returned to the hacienda, Moses informed them that he had booked a seat on a plane to Madrid on Thursday with connections to New York. Now that his business on the hacienda had been finalised, he didn’t have any reason to stick around any longer. Eduardo didn’t see the point of moving into a hotel for two nights and made it clear that he was welcome to stay for the duration. “Please stay.” Maria enforced Eduardo’s offer and Moses accepted.

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Toreador's Embrace “In this case, I am going to explore this part of Spain a little more. I’ve heard that you guys film spaghetti westerns for us and I’d like to see where that action takes place. I would appreciate if someone would volunteer as an escort.” He looked directly at Maria and his cheek wasn’t lost on Gina, but how would Maria react? “I’m an expert at escorting gentlemen of all ages.” Maria reciprocated with equal humour and offered her services and, with a quick glance in Eduardo’s direction, flirted unashamedly with her new conquest “You look like the sort of gentleman who would uphold a lady’s honour.” “I can uphold alright.” Moses promised and Gina knew that her new sister would be in for a surprise. Arm in arm they walked toward the beach to be alone. Gina turned to Julio. “What are we going to do about Antonio? He is my little brother.” Eduardo interrupted “Wait until I’ve spoken to Ria and Juan. Until today I was the only one who knew. I don’t want them to be frightened that they are going to loose him. I’ll see them tomorrow.” Gina agreed to wait and so did Julio. “Do you know where they are?” She asked Julio, referring to Romano and Antonio. They had gone their own ways in Aldorra and the last she saw of them was when they ran with the bulls. Now she was concerned about Antonio. If she had known beforehand that he was her little brother, she wouldn’t have let him. Julio laughed at her logic. “If anyone would have taken any chances it would

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J.J. Doulton have been Romano, and not Antonio.” He tried to allay her fears but it didn’t help much; she was still worried about him. They left Eduardo to ponder the events of the day by himself and returned to the villa. Slowly Julio drove along the dirt road while Gina admired her green peninsula home. She looked at it with different eyes now that she knew she had blood ties to the Ganaderia Magia Negra. They approached the refreshing waters of the Andrecco and the lush trees that adorned its banks. Julio stopped the car on the centre of the bridge and stood up to see over the old stonewall sides. He pointed downward and asked “Remember that spot?” Gina followed the direction of his finger and suddenly remembered their secret hiding spot. They used to come here for rides and let the horses graze while they amused themselves under the waterfall. Julio crossed the bridge and parked the convertible on the side of the road. He helped Gina out and, like children, both ran down to the water, along a longforgotten path and hopped from rock to rock until they arrived at the waterfall just above the still pool of deep water that slowly circled in one of the river’s sharp bends. They left their clothes behind and made their way out to the centre of the fall on bare feet. Slowly they climbed halfway up the steep rock face over which the waters fell and crawled on all four along a narrow ledge. They were completely soaked by they time they squeezed through a narrow gap between the curtain of water and the rock behind. A cosy little cave opened up at the rear and they found themselves in their old hiding place. That’s where

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Toreador's Embrace they used to come when the summer heat was too great. Julio leant back against the moss-covered rock and looked at her with those eyes that had always made her swoon. She knelt before him and let her hands slide along his wet thighs towards his waiting cock. The spray from the waterfall settled on her skin and formed droplets that mingled with other droplets until they ran down on her as little streams of water. The coolness of this hollow behind the curtain of rushing water afforded them the most invigorating feeling on a hot summer’s day. Her hands had reached his penis and she marvelled at it like the first day she had discovered how it rose from under its black bush. He stretched his hands out and caught her dangling tits, caressed them and squeezed her nipples between his fingertips until they almost hurt. She crawled over him on all four and came to sit on his thighs. His penis stood up in front of her and rose between his black and her platinum blonde bush. She lifted herself off to her knees and slowly slid her vagina over his red-hot cock and greedily sucked him in. She offered her boobs for him to suck, which he eagerly accepted. The feeling of his tongue that licked and circled her nipples, together with his cock that stirred inside her made her feel like the only woman on this planet. She closed her eyes and listened to the waterfall and the monotonous, unending, splashing roar that reverberated through the small cave and amplified the sound. She drifted with the water and moved her body in the same slow, fluid movement.

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J.J. Doulton Round and round she gyrated over Julio’s penis, and felt him stroke her inside with the tip of his cock. She opened her eyes and looked into the deep black pool of his wide-open pupils; he feasted himself on the vision of her satisfying body movements. He held her gaze and flicked his tongue out from between his lips and teased her, then curled up the tip to mimic a lick on her clit while at the same time, the tip of his finger executed his tongue’s movement. She couldn’t help but moan in utter, lustful excitement and continued her pelvis’ movements without interruptions. She stared into his black eyes and fell deeper into that abyss that opened up behind them; listened to the waterfall and the language of their bodies. She heard them scream after a while. Hers began with the quiet murmur of her first tremor and increased to a roar that equalled the deafening noise of the waterfall and shook her to the core. His body exploded with the sudden bellowing of a canon that had been lit into action and brought forth a bombardment of shattering ammunition, stirring and fuelling her own body’s voice. Julio grinned from ear to ear at their re-discovery of one of their old favourites. Cautiously they clambered back down the rock and took a dip in the river’s pool. Gently Julio stroked her, washed her and caressed her as Gina reciprocated before they made their way back to the parked car. The first thing Gina noticed when they entered her villa were someone’s clothes that hung over the handrails on the first floor gantry. “Romano and Antonio must be back,” she rejoiced. Julio grabbed

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Toreador's Embrace her arm and held up a finger to remind her to keep quiet about Antonio. She nodded. The last thing she wanted was to hurt Antonio. “Ola.” Both looked around to the kitchen where Antonio emerged with a tray of food. “For Romano. He’s recovering.” “From what?” Gina was alarmed and stared at the young man. “His body piercing.” Antonio managed a wry grin. “Oh no!” Gina couldn’t help herself, she had to see this. She took the tray from Antonio and went upstairs. Antonio opened the door to Romano’s room for her and she entered. In bed lay a very sorry-for-himselflooking Romano. “I want to see your new jewellery.” She demanded and set the tray down on the chair next to his bed. With panic in both his voice and his face, he cupped his hands over the sheet where his cock was and shrieked “Watch out, it hurts!” She hadn’t even touched the bed. She chuckled and repeated herself “I want to see your new jewellery.” She approached slowly and grabbed the edge of the sheet. Hesitantly Romano let her proceed. “He was right.” Romano moaned. “Who? About what?” “I’ve had a hard on ever since it got pierced.” “Oh. Moses.” She answered her own question. The sheets peeled back from his painfully erect gear and Gina had a good look at the enhancement of an otherwise perfect physique. She winced inwardly when she saw the body jewellery firmly attached

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J.J. Doulton through the skin on the base of his penis. She also detected a profusion of bruises around his thighs— quite obviously the bull he had hung onto during the running had not given in so easily. Instead of a dumbbell, Romano had opted for a bull’s ring. How apt, she thought and said “You can hang a bell from the ring, just for kicks.” “Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.” Romano gasped and suppressed a giggle. “Who’s idea was this, anyway?” “It looks like the serpent monster from my nightmares. Do you want me to kiss it better?” She asked and pretended that she was going to slide her lips over his prick, which prompted him to yelp with alarm, but got interrupted when Antonio hurriedly said “I’ve already tried that. He is getting better. It was much worse yesterday.” She couldn’t argue with that and looked around and into her brother’s concerned face. She quickly reassured him that she was just kidding and got up from the bed to tousle Antonio’s hair and kiss him on the nose. He smiled at her and continued to tend to his lover with the fashionable injury. Romano managed to rise later in the evening and join them for dinner downstairs. Gina enjoyed watching her brother fuss over Romano and couldn’t take her eyes off him. He’s cute, she proudly mused. Antonio was preoccupied with Romano’s pierced cock and didn’t notice the undue attention both Gina and Julio paid him. He was in love and Romano enjoyed every minute of it. She was sure that Romano exaggerated his discomfort and would hang onto it

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Toreador's Embrace for as long as he possibly could. “I hope you don’t mind, I borrowed your book to read while I recover, Gina.” Romano turned to her and she nodded. “I couldn’t get into it. I can’t believe the entire world is going to self-destruct, do you?” “Not really, but I like the opium growing everywhere,” he grinned. Gina knew that Romano smoked more than pot every now and then and feared that he might lead Antonio down that path, and decided that she wouldn’t let that happen to her little brother. After the meal, Antonio gently helped Romano back upstairs. Romano looked back over his shoulder at them with a grin from ear to ear—she had been right after all. *** In the morning of Wednesday, Romano’s condition hadn’t improved much, according to him, but Gina knew otherwise, and neither he nor his young lover were in a hurry to rise. Antonio was busy fussing over him and Gina was impatient about news from Eduardo and wanted to return to the hacienda. By about midday they left Romano and Antonio to themselves. Miguel informed them, that Eduardo had not returned from San Pedro yet. Her and Julio decided to walk around the back of the house to kill a little time

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J.J. Doulton down by the stream. Quietly they strode along the path and were just about to round the corner when they heard giggles that emanated from the secluded creek bank. With his index finger over his lips, Julio signalled Gina to carefully sneak along behind him. She could hardly suppress a giggle of her own. This reminded her of the time they were teenagers and snuck up on a couple of workers from the Mendez ranch, the kitchen hand and her secret lover, a ranchero. The memories flooded back and while she followed Julio through the scrub, the giggle from the other side of the greenery took her back to that other hot summer’s day. Her and Julio had just returned from a day’s ride on his father’s horses when they decided to cool off in the creek’s refreshing water. The teenagers chased along the path, Julio after her, when she discovered the pair on the creek’s bank. Julio ran into her when she suddenly stopped and toppled her over, and to this day she couldn’t explain how the two lovebirds had failed to discover them. Side by side, her and Julio lay in the high grass while they watched the goings-on near the water’s edge. The brown-eyed girl giggled uncontrollably as her ranchero fiddled with her tight dress. He had her pinned on the ground and kissed her neck and cleavage while his hands fumbled to undo the buttons and ribbons. Finally, she decided to help him along and finished the job for him. His eager hands fondled her breasts and her giggle gave way to high-pitched shrieks of excitement. They watched as his arm disappeared under a multi-

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Toreador's Embrace layered skirt that framed her well-rounded thighs. She squealed, closed her legs and pushed him off her with a half-hearted attempt at escape. She tried to get away on all fours but he was quick to rope her in again and slid one arm under her belly, held her back, and with the other flipped her skirt over her back. Her exposed round bum was perfectly placed for the ranchero and he didn’t hesitate. He’d already begun to undress himself before she tried to get away and now quickly liberated his cock. His penis bobbed up and down in excitement and Gina remembered how funny it all looked. He still had a hold of the squealing kitchen maid with one hand and with the other steadied his cock and led it to her cunt. Once he had succeeded in poking it inside the vagina between the enormous buttocks in front of him, he grabbed a firm hold on the girl’s waist and fucked her with such haste, it reminded Gina of the hares that she used to watch in the fields. The girl had no choice in the matter, or so it seemed, but to all intent and purpose she visibly enjoyed the treatment. Caramba! Gina still remembered the ranchero’s favourite word, he uttered at least a dozen versions of it by the time his semen spouted inside her, and that before she had even begun to ease into her bit of enjoyment. He withdrew as soon as he had finished his part of the fuck, and then left her utterly wanting. Gina still felt the disappointment and frustration that she perceived from the young girl at that moment. She lay there in the grass next to Julio and felt sad for the wench and wondered whether this was the way it was supposed

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J.J. Doulton to be. The none-too gentlemanly ranchero stood up and dusted his trousers off after he pulled them back up and said something in Spanish to her. The girl on the ground just shook her head and let him walk back to the hacienda by himself. Julio and her didn’t dare move or she would have noticed them and become embarrassed. She lay on her back and pulled her skirts up above her belly. Her bush and the deep flesh between her voluptuous thighs bathed in sunlight. Slowly she caressed herself with her fingers, circled her clit and stroked along the wetness of her cunt. They watched the girl treat herself to the foreplay she should have received from him. Her bulbous breasts heaved heavily with each sigh that escaped her chest. Slowly she caressed them, played with her nipples that had hardened with the first touch of her ranchero’s hands and had remained raised. Gina remembered how, suddenly, the girls back arched and her belly stretched into the air and how her muted cries of lust announced her cum. She stretched her legs and arms out wide and let her body soak up the sensations of her own pleasures. After a while, her body eased back into the shell of the kitchen maid that she was. She collected herself and stepped into the brook to wash and return to the house. Gina’s face bumped into Julio’s back when he halted in front of her. She had been so immersed in her memories of that long-gone summer’s day she hadn’t watched him. She stretched her neck to see where he pointed his finger and put a hand over her mouth so as not to give them away with her surprise.

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Toreador's Embrace There on a rock were Maria and Moses, who had made themselves comfortable and dangled their feet in the water. He had his finger under her chin, lifted her face to his and kissed her. Gina tried to make sense of her own emotional turmoil, she watched her sister, whom she never knew she had—a courtesan at that—become intimate with an investigator with the FBI. She grabbed Julio’s arm and tugged and he obliged; they slowly crept back out of sight. “I thought they were out sightseeing, and besides, Maria is my…hum, our sister, we mustn’t do this to her.” “You’re right…” He tried to reply with a cheeky grin but was interrupted by the sound of a car that pulled up at the hacienda. They looked at one another and hurried to see if it was Eduardo who had returned. They were on their way back when Moses and Maria came up behind them. “That must be our car. We were too late for Eduardo to take us to San Pedro so we thought we wait for him to get back before we headed off.” Gina was happy that her and Julio had withdrawn when they did. “No need for that. Here, have the Ferrari—it's yours for the duration. Maria can bring it back when you fly off.” Julio reached into his pocket and handed the keys of the Ferrari to Moses who glanced sideways at Gina. She just grinned. “It's still there,” referring to the unique gear stick. Eduardo got out of the car, but Gina couldn’t decipher his face. They listened to Maria’s bemused giggle when she discovered the gear stick and waited

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J.J. Doulton until her and Moses had driven off before they went inside. “Well?” Gina couldn’t hold out any longer “Did you speak to them? What did they say?” Eduardo looked at her and smiled—a good sign, Gina hoped—and reported on the morning’s events. He was not one to mince words and told it as simply as he could. Ria and Juan Sanches wanted to be the ones to tell Antonio who his real parents were and that he had a sister and a cousin to share the Ganaderia Magia Negra with. Eduardo had given them his word that their wish would be respected and expected Gina to honour this. For the first time in her life, Gina felt like part of a real family, not just a successor to a fortune with a role to play. “Ria and Juan will visit your villa later in the day to talk to Antonio. I think maybe you want to stay around here a little longer—until after their visit?” Gina looked into Eduardo’s eyes and realised that he looked at her differently; no longer did he pierce her exterior to get to her core but exuded a warmth that gently engulfed her and made her feel at home. “Take a couple of horses and go for a ride by the beach,” he suggested and called out to the young boy near the stables to saddle them. To sit on one of these stallions of pure Spanish blood was utterly different to riding the tame horses that she was used to. Whenever time allowed, she’d leave L.A. and head for one of the riding facilities out in the country. But Magia Negra produced some of the finest steeds in Spain, and at least once a year she was fortunate enough to enjoy them. As soon as the

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Toreador's Embrace creature under her moved, she felt the heat of its blood burst through its entire being. Nostrils flared, dainty hooves danced on the spot and through the reins Gina could feel her mount’s chew on the bit that produced a volume of white foam drip from its lips. The muscles in its body quivered with the desire to run and explode along the sand. The mane danced to one side of its arched neck in silky waves almost down to its chest and its ears flitted busily forward and backward to ensure it didn’t miss any of its rider’s commands. Julio led the way and before long, the expanse of the Mediterranean sea lay in front of them with a fresh breeze that welcomed them. Slowly they fell into a comfortable trot and guided the horses along the firm sand just above the waves’ reach. Gina closed her eyes for a moment and shook her own blonde mane when she realised that the horse was only too willing to share its excitement with her. Without prompting the stallion increased its speed and before she knew it they flew together over the water. The hooves didn’t seem to touch the ground any more and just skimmed over the sparkling surface and left a spray of glittering explosions in their wake. Beside her, Gina saw the head of Julio’s stallion and glanced back at its rider. Julio looked at her with a smile that she never noticed before. It told her that he was as exhilarated being in this very moment as she was. She laughed and slapped her hand on the side of her stallion’s neck to let him know she appreciated him. The creature responded with a whinny, stretched its head and from somewhere

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J.J. Doulton pulled the energy to increase its speed yet again. Julio’s mount kept up effortlessly. Gina stood up in her stirrups and held only onto the reins so they wouldn’t dangle under the animal’s feet—she was at the mercy of the beautiful creature’s skill. Gently the horses eased back and gradually fell into a rolling canter, side by side, to allow their bodies to calm down. Out of nowhere, a seabird dove into the water straight in front of Gina’s horse and startled it. It flinched and jumped to the side, and Gina found herself unceremoniously ejected out of the saddle and somersaulted straight into the water. Luckily she landed in a deeper mould, carved by a cross current in the small bight and therefore only got wet. Julio halted both horses and jumped down to help her. She could see that he had a worried look on his face and reassured him that she hadn’t injured herself. She couldn’t sit in the saddle now that she was dripping wet, so they looked for a shady spot and led the horses to a group of rocky outcrops with some green grass around them so the animals could graze. It wouldn’t take long for her clothes to dry in the breeze. Gina felt Julio’s eyes on her skin as he watched her undress, and it was quite obvious that he liked what he saw. While he watched her, he unbuttoned his own shirt, slowly and deliberately, as she watched. He let the fabric flutter in the wind before he let it go to drift onto the sand. Gina sat on the ground and kept watching him. He opened his belt and slowly pulled it out of the loops, dangled it from two fingers

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Toreador's Embrace before it too was dropped to the ground. She leant back and propped herself up on her elbows and waited for the next instalment of his performance. Agonisingly slow, he slid each button out if its hole along the front of his black ranchero trousers. He then slid his flat hand inside the loose trousers and caressed himself, around his buttocks, over the outside of his thighs and down the front and provokingly lifted the loose fabric. Gina stretched her legs and slowly dragged the heels outward through the sand and opened her thighs slightly. Julio responded and slid his thumbs inside the trousers, pushed them down and exposed his shorts that hid his gear. The fabric had begun to bulge and his cock strained to be released. She opened her legs a little more and showed just enough to titillate her voyeur a little more. He grabbed the elastic of his shorts and pulled it forward, and allowed his rock hard prick to pop up like a jack-inthe-box. Swiftly he discarded the flimsy piece of apparel and stood in front of her in all his glory. She finished her performance and completely opened her legs and laid back into the sand while she tilted her pelvis in his direction. He put his hand around his penis and masturbated in front of her. Her hands found her cunt and she, too, played with herself. The swelling flesh fed her lust and she kept her eyes on Julio’s hand while both played the thrilling game of watching each other. She closed her eyes and watched herself from the inside for a while and delighted at her own ability to satisfy the lusting body. When she next lifted her eyelids,

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J.J. Doulton Julio had moved closer and knelt before her. He still rubbed his cock, caressed himself and with his eyes half shut, enjoying the thrill of being watched. She lifted her hands off herself and touched him, she gave in, all she wanted now was for him to fuck her. He didn’t wait for encouragement and before she knew it, his cock had found its mark. Deep and hard he pierced her, and she surrendered to his conquest. The soft ripple of the Mediterranean Sea splashed through her consciousness as Julio’s flesh surged in a rhythm of its own. She closed her eyes and let her body participate as it reciprocated his thrusts, caught them and afforded him the greatest possible penetration. Her forced breath escaped her chest with each of his powerful blows and the closer she got to climax, the louder her moans became until she felt her fibres contract, and listened to her voice call out her cum. “Gina!” she heard him cry and she looked up into his face that was distorted in ecstasy and framed by a wild, dangling mop of black hair. He collapsed onto her and closed his lips over hers, drowning her in his passion. It was later than they had anticipated by the time they mounted the horses, and her villa was closer than the hacienda so they decided to head over the river instead of back up the coast. Juan and Ria would have well and truly told Antonio by now and Gina only hoped that the news of his adoption hadn’t been too devastating. I suppose being gay was enough; being gay and adopted would have made his life even worse in a small village like San Pedro, she tried to reason. Maybe I am too selfish, but he should know that he is part of the

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Toreador's Embrace Mendez family. “I am happy that Eduardo is your father, and not Paolo—knowing what I know now, thanks to Moses,” she said to Julio. “And I’m also happy for Antonio that he grew up not knowing that Paolo Mendez was his father. Ria and Juan are two decent people and they have brought him up with much love.” Julio reached over from his horse and pulled her toward him to kiss her, and she nearly fell off her horse a second time. The villa came into view and Gina suddenly wasn’t sure about how to handle the situation. This was a new feeling for her and she was like a fish out of water as she suddenly had to deal with family matters. She knew how to handle difficult situations in a boardroom but nobody had prepared her for something like this. “Juan’s car is not here.” Julio observed and they dismounted. He led the horses over to the old stables where a couple of stalls had been kept intact and some feed was also available and settled the stallions in for the night while Gina distributed their food. The closer to the house they got the more apprehension she felt toward facing Antonio. The French doors to the lounge room were ajar and everything was dark. A menacing feeling came over her and she grabbed Julio’s arm. What if Antonio had decided to leave and she’d never see him again? Julio went ahead and she closely followed him into the lounge room. For a moment the images of the monster with the ‘milelong’ cock wafted through her head and she could almost feel his touch. Julio found the light switch and flicked it. They couldn’t see anyone and she felt cold

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J.J. Doulton dread creep into her veins. “Hello, sister.” The voice came from the dark corner and Gina jumped. Julio reeled around to face whoever it was but both recognised Antonio in the deep chair. “Antonio?” “My parents came to visit this afternoon.” Gina registered that he still referred to Juan and Ria as his parents. “And we had a long talk.” He seems calm and takes it very well, Gina thought. “You see, I knew who my father was, I just didn’t know who my mother was.” Gina felt like she’d been hit by a runaway train. “How did you know about Paolo Mendez?” Julio wanted to know. “The father of a close friend of mine used to work in the clinic where my parents tried for so many years to have a child. When he told me he had looked up their old records just for curiosity, he mentioned something about me being a miracle child and that my father’s sperm count just didn’t add up. I began a little investigation of my own but I only got as far as the birth registry where there was no entry—only my adoptive parents were mentioned—I kept it to myself because I didn’t want to worry them, I love them. The day when Paolo Mendez got killed by the bull, I was in hospital too. I had a motorcycle accident and was in the same emergency ward when he was delivered. I overheard the nurse on duty say that she hadn’t seen this rare blood type for quite some time and there were two deliveries in the same night, myself and Paolo Mendez. My friend, who is a nurse,

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Toreador's Embrace secretly organised a blood sample and a DNA test. It came back conclusive and showed that Paolo Mendez and I shared too much in common, which could only mean that we were father and son.” Gina found herself a chair to sit down as her legs had become very shaky and threatened to give way beneath her. “Did you tell your parents this?” “No. I chose to think that they told me that I was adopted when it became necessary. I realised that they didn’t want to make my life any harder in a small town than it already was, because of me being gay, by knowing that I was also a bastard.” Antonio rose from the chair and walked over to Gina and Julio and put his arms around his newly-found sister, “Thank you both for letting it be my parents’ choice to tell me,” and then embraced Julio. “Eduardo told my parents that he is your father, and not Paolo. I was looking forward to having you as my brother, but I guess cousin is just as good.” He smiled. Gina couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. The relief at not only having found a family, but at the situation resolving itself in such a manner, came flooding out of her. She noticed Julio step back to leave her and Antonio alone for a while. She didn’t have many words to speak and neither did Antonio but their hearts said it all. After a while, Julio came back with an open bottle of wine. “This deserves a toast, don’t you think?” He smiled at them both. “But not without me.” A voice sounded from the hallway. “I couldn’t stay away when I heard you

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J.J. Doulton come in. Sorry I eavesdropped, but I didn’t want to miss this one. Antonio told me when we went to have my piercing done. The nurse was very good. She was the one who helped him with the blood sample.” Romano walked into the lounge room with a walk like a cowboy who had ridden one too many horses.

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Chapter Nine: Fantasma

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ina woke with a start. A glance at the bedside clock revealed it wasn’t even five in the morning. That she suddenly had a family kept reeling around in her head and one thought cemented itself in her mind. Her father’s will was based upon only one child, herself, but with a sister, Maria, and a brother, Antonio, she had grounds to contest it and finally free herself of the restraints it posed on her freedom. It also meant that, through Maria and Antonio, she became inextricably linked with the Mendez family. She couldn’t go back to sleep and went downstairs for a cup of coffee. It was still cool at this early time of the day. She took her cup and went out to the decking for some fresh air. She leant onto the railing post with her back toward the climbing rose and admired the pinkcoloured morning sky. Soon the sun was to peek over the horizon again. Deep in thought, she paid no attention to her surroundings when she became aware of some deep and long-drawn breathing

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J.J. Doulton behind her. She felt the hot breath of a large creature on her naked shoulder and for one terrifying instant saw with her mind’s eye the monster that had attacked her in her nightmares. She screamed and spun around, ready to defend herself, when she came face to face with her stallion. Because she jumped, the stallion spooked, reared and bucked and galloped back toward the stables. Somehow the horses had opened the stable gate and made themselves at home in Ria and Juan’s well-tended garden. Some of the shrubs weren’t exactly the way she remembered them from yesterday. Her scream woke the others and Julio came downstairs to investigate. “I didn’t mean to wake you. The horses spooked me. I’m sorry. They let themselves out of the stable,” she explained. “I must have a word with Eduardo, they are not very well trained,” he joked. She looked at Julio and remembered why she woke up and told him about her intention to contest the will now that she had Maria and Antonio. He grabbed her around her waist “Are you going to stay here now for good?” He breathed into her ear. That’s when she realised that he had wanted the same thing as her all along. She couldn’t think of anywhere else she’d rather be and simply said, “Yes.” In response, he began playing with her satin nightgown, slid it up and down her back and over her tits. It drove her mad and instantly, the sweet pain of swelling flesh between her thighs sent showers of

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Toreador's Embrace arousal through her entire body. Willingly and welcoming, she opened her legs for his caressing fingers where he played with her clit, slithered along her cunt and found a vagina full of hot moisture. He pulled her back inside, where his lips closed over her nipples while he gently pushed her against the back of the sofa. She leant onto it and steadied herself while his hands wandered all over her, pressed his fingers into her flesh and stroked her and massaged every fold on her body as if it were for the first time. His tongue slithered down from her tits over her belly toward her bush, and she let herself drop onto the sofa and lifted one of her legs over the backrest to afford him the best possible access for his tongue. She squirmed under his treatment, his teeth gently grated over her clit and his tongue circled around it, then continued its travels along her tender lips and stopped a while at her little pee hole. She took her golden charm off and handed it to him. Without interruption, he grabbed it and took over. She felt the gold slide along her skin and push gently inside the little hole. Oh, that tingle, that sweet, intense sensation when he rotated the toy. Her back arched and she pushed herself closer to him; her breathing turned short and shallow, the lust for satisfaction from his body became almost unbearable. He played with her and teased her with all his tricks. He stole some of her juice from her cunt and smeared it liberally around her backslice, and she knew what he was about to do. She felt him push his fingers inside both her orifices at the same time, and then rub them together and stimulate her from inside

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J.J. Doulton while the other hand manipulated her toy in her piss hole. She pushed against him as much as she could— she wanted to suck his entire being into her body, to fill her up until there was nothing left of herself but one giant never-ending orgasm. “I want to watch you explode, come on, show me, fuck my fingers,” she heard him urge her. “My cock is waiting to fuck you and it wants to poke into your cunt, it can’t get enough of fucking you. But first I want to watch you cum, see your cunt when you erupt. Explode into my hands now, let me watch.” He pleaded with her as his fingers worked their horny magic and his words were hardly audible under his hissing breath as she obliged. He never failed to find her spot, the spot from where the sweet spasms spread. Her mouth watered and her tongue wanted desperately to find something to suck. Her body shook as her cum squirted into his waiting hands. She heard herself pump cries of release out of her throat as her orgasm climbed, then peaked and slowly ebbed out. Julio smeared her slime onto her thighs and over her belly and onto his penis, then grabbed her platinum blonde hair and lifted her head slightly and before she could recover, her mouth had filled with his penis. Her tongue satisfied itself around that pulsing flesh and she relished the salty taste of her own juice. “How do you want it, you little bitch in heat? A little ass fuck? Ride me? Tell me!” He provoked her. She loved his games, they never failed to heighten her arousal—and his. She played with his balls and kneaded the base of his penis “Mouth fuck,” he hissed and increased the intensity of his short thrusts

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Toreador's Embrace that announced his own cum and threw his head back “Take this, drink it, suck it out of me—fuck, you make me wild. You sweet little fucking bitch in heat, every summer you wind me up, fuck me like a slutty nymph, then leave again. I won't let you leave this time, you’re going to let me fuck you for the rest of your life.” Her mouth overflowed with his semen and it ran down from the corner of her mouth, along her neck and over her tits. He finished the job and smeared it all around her breasts. Her tongue was satisfied and her nostrils saturated with his beguiling odour. The sun shone through the French doors on this last Friday in August and drenched the lounge room with its refreshing early morning light. For the longest time, Gina drifted in Julio’s arms, content in the knowledge that she didn’t have to leave, ever again. Later, Antonio and Romano came downstairs and headed to the beach for a swim and left Gina and Julio to themselves. The ringing of the phone jolted them out of their drowsy laziness and Julio answered it. “One moment, please,” she heard him say and he came over to the sofa to hand her the phone. The voice on the other side identified the caller as one of her fellow board members at Forbes Media. He apologised for bothering her during her vacation but explained that they had just reached an important breakthrough in the negotiations with I.M.E. International and the latest details were about to be finalised this very day. As such, her counter signature was required in order to effect valid merger between

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J.J. Doulton Forbes Media and I.M.E. International. Gina enquired whether their attorney was present in Madrid and this was confirmed. “Lets arrange a meeting between all parties here on my property. I’ll get Juan to have the cars ready to drive you down to the peninsula. I have another matter which needs discussing in detail prior to signing. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She hung up the phone and looked at Julio. “And?” he prompted her. “The merger is going ahead, but I won’t sign anything until the matter of my sister and brother have been brought in order. That damn testament will be contested tomorrow and the cursed ruling of my father declared null and void.” She felt the determination to finally break free from J.W. Forbes once and for all, and she knew that her freedom was within grasp. Julio grinned and pulled her into his arms. Only now did she realise that she was entirely naked and the traces of her and Julio’s early morning game were still all over her body. “We have to find Maria. She is sightseeing with Moses somewhere in the desert. The meeting tomorrow is for all of us. This is a family affair now and everyone will have to do their bit—including you.” She grinned. “Me? I already have a job.” He joked. As partner of I.M.E. International he had been instrumental in paving the way for a successful merger. With the amalgamation obviously going ahead, it was possible for Gina to remain in Spain.

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Toreador's Embrace “I feel the need to re-evaluate my attitude toward life as a simple ganadero,” he explained to her. “With so many bulls and horses to look after, there won’t be much time for corporate lunching.” “Talking of horses,” he interrupted himself. “I better take the creatures back. Will you follow with your car so you can pick me up?” The horses had left their trail of destruction behind in Ria and Juan’s lovingly tended garden around the villa and Gina was none too impressed. After freshening up, breakfast and donning some clothes, Julio caught the horses, saddled them and rode off in the direction of the hacienda through the trees. He’d cross the river at the bridge near the estuary he said, the way they came last night and head straight across the grazing pastures while Gina was to drive the car and meet him at the hacienda. Before she left she went to find Antonio and Romano at the beach to let them know what had transpired, and both agreed that no less than the entire family was to be present at tomorrow’s meeting. She was happy with her world the way it was right at this moment and enjoyed the drive along the windy coastal road of Pene Verde de San Pedro. When she approached the junction to the bridge she glimpsed a red convertible approach from afar and waited. She observed the vehicle’s leisurely cruise along the road that led down from San Pedro and soon recognised Moses and Maria. He had her arm around her shoulder and she leant against him. They stopped at the intersection when they recognised Gina, and Maria jumped out.

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J.J. Doulton “Guess what, Gina? You’ll be the first person in the world to know—Moses just proposed to me! Can you imagine, we only just met and he tells me that he wants to marry me! I love him so much,” she swooned and ran back to Moses. Moses looked straight at her and smiled and she didn’t quite know what it meant. Love at first sight. She was elated and simply stared at the two lovebirds who obviously were made for one another. “Oh!” She almost forgot … “I need to talk to you both, I hope you haven’t got any plans for tomorrow. Let's meet at the hacienda.” She shouted over the intersection to them. They acknowledged and she continued driving toward the hacienda with the red convertible in the rear vision mirror. Julio hadn’t arrived yet and so Gina announced that she had something very important to disclose that would concern the future of not only her and Julio but also Maria, Antonio, Eduardo and, since a short time, Moses. Maria had jumped out of the car, and like a smitten teenager ran to find Eduardo to tell him her good news as quickly as she could. Now she came back with him in tow from the stables. “Why Antonio?” Maria asked. That’s when Gina realised that Maria and Moses didn’t know of Antonio yet and she explained to them what had taken place and had led to this additional revelation. Maria was almost beside herself at the rate with which her newly-found family increased. They heard the whinny of horses in the distance and those in the stables replied. Julio approached and Gina watched him ride one and lead the other horse toward the

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Toreador's Embrace hacienda—he looked splendid with his well-built physique, bronzed skin, black hair and eyes and the well-fitting ganadero outfit. Julio handed the horses to the stable boy and joined the others. Gina told Eduardo, Maria and Moses of the phone call she had received this morning and her plan to contest her father’s will. Since Maria was J.W. Forbes’ daughter and Antonio was Mercedes Forbes' son, both had just interest in the company. Maria hadn’t expected her life to be turned upside down so dramatically as it did in the past few days and had a lot of questions to ask. But very soon, explanations about the politics of multinational corporations were replaced by the dissection and unravelling of the multi-branched tree of the Mendez family. Focus later shifted to the next day, when the representatives of both companies were to meet the entire family at Gina’s villa. It wasn’t too difficult to organise catering for the day of the meeting, since the area of Aldorra was famous for its food production. Tomorrow loomed and Gina hadn’t felt this nervous since her first day at school, many years ago. Exhausted, her and Julio returned to the villa. Tonight, they had the villa to themselves as Antonio and Romano had gone to San Pedro to spend the night with Juan and Ria, to celebrate Antonio’s own freedom and to help his parents with tomorrow’s catering preparations. Gina leant back against Julio in the lounge, sipping on a Rioja, just letting go of the day’s tumult and

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J.J. Doulton listening to her lover’s heart beating against his ribs while the candles threw their flickering lights against the walls around them. “Is it worth reading?” Julio’s voice interrupted her quietude. “What’s that?” “Your book.” She looked around and saw Julio hold up her book. It seemed like it wasn’t going to leave her until she knew the ending of the story. “Romano must have finished it. I bought it because I liked the cover and to have something to kill the time with on the long flight.” In a way ‘Ana’s Future’ had prompted her to think about her own more closely. “How does it end?” She wanted to know and reached for it. Julio handed it to her. She opened the book and turned straight to the last page. I picked some fruit for our journey. Tomorrow we would light Thom’s fire and the day after we would leave the shore. The apples were ripe. I sat down on the edge of a large rock by the creek for a while. I took an apple, which was juicy and I enjoyed its sweet flavour. There was a rustle in the grass. I could see the reptile’s black, shiny body slithering toward my rock as it made its way around the grass bushes and emerged next to me on the rock. It

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Toreador's Embrace stopped and its tongue tasted the air an arm’s length away from me. I felt tense at the sight of the snake, yet at the same time, there was a strange calmness and I felt the urge to offer the reptile my partially eaten apple and slowly began to stretch my naked arm toward its alert face. “Ana!” Michael shouted. The reptile turned and hastily descended into the creek’s bankside vegetation. I looked around in the direction of the voice. But to my utter bewilderment I could not see anyone. Then I realised that it could not possibly have been Michael’s voice as he was dead. I was alone beside the creek with a bag full of picked apples. What just happened? I asked myself but the answer eluded me. Hastily I picked up the fruit and headed back. No one else had left the community building the entire time I spent picking the apples beside the creek. I remembered one more thing to pack, Michael’s staff. He carved it in the shape of a serpent a long time ago and it always accompanied him, wherever he went. Now it was to accompany

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J.J. Doulton me on the journey to the Hill community. Then, I made one more entry into my space in Max’s computer, before I unplugged his machine. I followed the instructions on how to permanently disable it. Although it was only a machine, I felt as if another member of our community had just died. The machine had made it possible to talk to the outside world and invite friends to share a small piece of life on Boronia Island. Ten people were now on their way to the Hill community. We hoped and prayed that we didn’t encounter Michael’s assailants on our journey. By nightfall we would see Peter and Marina again, Selena, Kelab and Danton and little Grace. I looked forward to holding baby Grace. I hoped that Leonard could continue helping us to heal and teach many more to continue his work into the future. I hoped for myself and the entire planet. I had hope after all. “A happy ending after all, Julio. I think this year’s vacation will have a happy ending for us too, don’t you?” “Sì, Señora Mendez.” He teased her.

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Toreador's Embrace “Què?” “You heard me.” He whispered. She turned around and looked her lover straight into his dark eyes, her nipples hardened. “Are you proposing to me?” “Sì,” he simply said. Strangely enough, Gina no longer panicked at the thought of marriage. Suddenly, her monsters had simply vanished and she had the family she always yearned for. Eduardo’s words rang in her ears “Leave the past where it belongs,” and she had begun to learn the meaning of them. “Sì,” she echoed his reply, and “I love you, Julio Mendez.” “I love you, Gina Alvarez.” In the morning Juan and Ria arrived with the caterers and her brother and Romano and made themselves busy organising the house and the food. Ria hadn’t been happy at the sight of her devastated garden and Julio had to promise her to make restitution for his horses’ destruction. Eduardo, Moses and Maria arrived soon after and for the first time, the entire family, Mendez and Forbes, as well as Antonio’s adoptive parents, Juan and Ria, were united under one roof. The plane with the Forbes Media and I.M.E. International representatives hadn’t landed in El Semalqui yet and Gina used the time getting to know more of everyone. She reassured Ria and Juan that Antonio would never think of leaving them because he loved them dearly. She only wished that her real parents could have shown her this much love.

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J.J. Doulton Two prestige cars arrived around eleven a.m., unloaded six out-of-place-looking business men and executives, and after two hours of corporate niceties and pretend smiles, copious quantities of expensive food and wine; two hours of statements and presentations, revelations and agreements the six outof-place-looking businessmen and executives left the villa to return to their own worlds. They left behind a woman who had come home to her family and who had finally forged her own freedom and was ready to begin her new life. Gina sat back and contemplated the coming weeks and months. “Can I speak to you in private, Gina?” Moses sounded very mysterious. “Yes, certainly. Excuse me.” Gina got up and left Julio and the others and accompanied Moses to the study. “What is the matter, Moses. Why the secrecy?” “I am not sure yet, Gina. Sit down. I don’t know where to start.” Moses seemed uncomfortable with what he was about to tell her. “You can start at the beginning.” Nothing could dampen her enthusiasm and her pleasure at her new future. “Fine. We’ve had Forbes Media under the microscope for a while, and a couple of key-people, especially.” Moses paused, expecting her to comment, but despite the rising dread, she kept quiet and waited for him to continue. “One of them just turned up here—your company attorney—and this makes what I am about to tell you

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Toreador's Embrace a priority. I know the files of the case—your father’s suspicious car accident—like the insides of my own trouser pockets, Gina and there is one small detail that has been bothering me ever since I took over from my predecessor.” “What’s that, Moses?” “Your father’s body has never been positively identified. It had been burned beyond recognition and what made this worse, his dental records had disappeared. Despite investigations, nothing further ever came to light.” Gina couldn’t believe what she heard and for a moment she thought she was going to faint a second time into his arms but steadied herself against the chair. “You mean to tell me that my father could still be alive?” “Yes.” “What makes you think that it isn’t his body that is buried in his grave?” Gina’s voice was no stronger than a hoarse whisper. “Call it a hunch. There is a regular amount of money that’s being transferred to an as yet unidentified receiver in the Bahamas from your company—quite cleverly disguised, but nevertheless, its there. There are also large sums of money tied up with weapons deals to the Middle East. He must have someone on the inside otherwise he couldn’t do it.” Gina could hardly breathe, let alone think. Her mind had simply gone numb. The possibility that her monstrous father could still be alive just didn’t exist. “I had to be sure first that you weren’t involved.

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J.J. Doulton That’s why I hadn’t said anything before.” “What am I going to do now? He’ll ruin everything. His accomplice was here today, checking everybody out. Oh, God, they’re all in danger.” “First thing’s first. We need to be sure that the body in the grave isn’t him.” “How are we going to do that?” Desperation had a stranglehold on her. “I need a blood sample from you so we can do a DNA test to find out, as soon as possible. If he is as scrupulous as I think he is, he won’t hesitate to try and kill you so that you cannot carve up his fortune and share it with your brother and sister.” A cold shudder engulfed her despite the hot, latesummer temperatures and all she wanted was to feel Julio’s arms around her. The pain in her stomach came on suddenly and she knew that she was about to vomit. She ran out of the room, out of the house and only halted behind the stables where the spasms violently brought up her stomach’s contents. Moses, and then Julio had followed her and he steadied her while she tried to compose herself. “I’m sorry, Gina. There was no other way to tell you.” She heard Moses’ voice. “What the fuck have you done to her?” Julio sounded ready to slam his fists into him. Gina righted herself and put her hand on Julio’s arm. “The body in my father’s grave isn’t my father.” “We’re not sure yet, but it has never been positively identified.” Moses tried to explain. “What?” Gina composed herself and leant on Julio for

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Toreador's Embrace support. “Lets do the tests as soon as possible.” In the meantime everyone had gathered outside behind the old stables and Maria asked “What tests?” “DNA tests to ascertain whether the body in the grave of J. W. Forbes really is Gina’s father or not.” Moses reiterated. “You can have some of my blood, too, since he was my father, to make doubly sure.” Maria volunteered. “It is getting late and tomorrow is Sunday. This has to be done quite soon so we can get this whole thing behind us.” Julio urged. “All I need is a lab.” Moses elaborated on the way back to the house. Gina still felt ill and headed for the stairs to go and clean herself up. The sour taste of being sick burned through her entire nose and throat area. “I know where there’s a lab.” She heard Antonio volunteer. “I can ring and ask.” “I better do the asking, as it is an official request for assistance. My phone doesn’t have coverage out here, can I use someone else’s, please?” Moses asked. Gina looked back “Use mine, its on the sideboard there.” She pointed to the hallway stand and Moses picked it up. She didn’t wait to hear the conversation and closed the door to the bathroom behind her. Exhausted, she slumped on the rim of the bathtub that doubled as a shower and put her head in her hands and the tears began to flow. Quietly she let go, let it wash over her, the horror that she thought had passed, had come back to grip her with a vengeance. Slowly, she regained composure, undressed and stood under the shower, letting the soothing water

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J.J. Doulton rinse everything away, the bad taste, the tears, the dread and a new hope crept into her soul. She wasn’t alone any longer to fight this battle, she had a family now, and—intense moments conjure up the strangest thoughts—the last sentence from ‘Ana’s Future’ flashed up in her mind and she smiled. The corny little book, despite its desolation, gave her back a new spark of the old fighting spirit—hope after all. She threw her wet hair back and dried herself off, hurried into her bedroom and got dressed and before long, joined her family again. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get the old bastard, once and for all.” She demanded as she rounded the hallway wall into the lounge with a big smile on her face. “Tomorrow morning, my darling.” Julio’s arm around her waist said it all—in spirit, they were married already, and, without realizing, had been for a long time. “We’ve arranged to see someone at the lab in the hospital in Aldorra tomorrow.” “Lets talk about something else, this is creepy. I’m sure I’ll have a nightmare from all this stuff.” “Antonio is right. I’m sorry I interrupted the festivities with my investigations and I promise I won’t interfere in anything else this evening.” Moses shifted position and moved closer to his bride-to-be who glowed almost brighter than the setting sun over the Mediterranean. “Maria and I have set a date for the wedding.” Since they came back from their sightseeing, everyone had known that Moses had proposed to Maria and that she’d accepted, because she could not contain herself and would have burst if

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Toreador's Embrace she hadn’t told the entire world, but no wedding plans had been mentioned until now. Moses looked around the expectant faces in the room “The last Saturday in October.” He enlightened them. “We can’t wait, and thought that late autumn might be a good time of the year.” Maria continued from Moses words and beamed a smile at her man. Gina and Julio were the first to congratulate the couple and then suddenly everyone converged around the sofa where they sat. “I expect that you plan to hold the wedding on the hacienda, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Eduardo’s voice didn’t leave any doubt as to the sincerity of his suggestion. “Shall we tell them?” Julio whispered into Gina’s ear. “A double wedding?” She whispered back, nestling her face into the side of his neck. “Sì.” “What are you two up to? No whispering, no secrets, we want to share everything.” Romano had snuck up behind them and jokingly forced them apart leaning his arms on their shoulders. “You tell them.” Gina chuckled. “How about a double wedding?” Julio quietly asked and looked directly at Moses, then Maria. For a moment it went very quiet inside the Villa and only the clock in the hallway sounded its ticktock through the rooms. “I thought it would never happen.” Romano murmured behind them, then Gina felt him increase his grip around her shoulder and kiss her on the side

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J.J. Doulton of her face “Congratulations, goddess,” and, turning to Julio, “I expect to be the ring bearer, my love,” and kissed Julio also before letting both go to be smothered by the others. “Oh, Gina! Getting married on the same day, together, I can’t think of anything better in this world right now.” Maria flung her arms around her and Gina felt herself swept away by such deep and sincere love that emanated from her sister and engulfed her with such bliss that she found it very hard to let go. She heard Julio next to her accept Moses’ and Antonio’s well-wishes and finally emerged from the mass of black curls that framed Maria’s glowing face. Eduardo had remained in the background and as he approached, Gina discovered tears in the old man’s eyes. He stepped closer and embraced both Julio and her. “Hold onto your Carmen, my son.” And stepping away, joked, “We’ll have to build a larger hacienda to cater for a double wedding.” “Lets get something to eat. I’m starving.” Gina looked around the room. “How about the new place in San Pedro?” Truth were told, she simply wanted to get away from the house for a while. The events of the late afternoon had brought back the ghostly feel to the place that she experienced when Julio and her returned from the beach that day. “Antonio, would you like to ring your parents and see if they would like to join us? After all, they are family too and have a right to know about the upcoming festivities.” Gina smiled at her brother. “Here, ring them now.” She handed him her phone.

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Toreador's Embrace They left soon after, Moses and Maria in Julio’s machine and the other’s in hers. “It doesn’t look like you’ll get your Ferrari back soon, Julio.” Antonio teased him from the back seat. Julio didn’t reply, and Gina knew then that he planned on handing the keys to Moses as a wedding gift. Eduardo and Romano remained quiet during the short drive to San Pedro. Antonio went to pick up his parents after they had arrived at the new restaurant and came back with three people. “This is my aunt Carmella from Cartagena. She is visiting and I couldn’t leave her home alone, so I brought her too,” he proudly proclaimed. The family is growing, Gina was quite bemused and got up to greet her brother’s aunt. “Welcome, Carmella, I am Gina, Antonio’s sister, this is Maria, my sister…" and so she introduced Carmella to everyone. Quite obviously Carmella was immensely confused about the entire family situation as her sister, Ria, had tried to explain it all, but herself never really had a full understanding of the Mendez and Forbes family trees. Carmella was very much different from her younger sister, Ria, who was more the homely, mothering type; in contrast, Carmella seemed a fiery, independent woman with a beauty that would still excite a man’s eye, Gina observed. Instead of joining her sister and brother-in-law, Juan, Carmella chose to be seated next to Eduardo, who seemed quite taken with her company. During the evening, Gina quietly watched Eduardo and Carmella gradually get to know one another and become immersed in an

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J.J. Doulton entirely separate world from the others. Midnight came and Carmella invited Eduardo to walk her home and he, the honourable gentleman that he was, nonchalantly accepted her invitation. Gina looked at Julio and saw the same smile on his face that she felt on hers. Perhaps, Eduardo had found another Carmen. Maria moved closer to Gina and they both chatted about their wedding plans for a while but Gina couldn’t help herself. Secretly she had wondered whether Moses’ dumbbell had any influence in Maria’s accepting Moses’ proposal and, aided by too much wine, the words simply slipped out “Is his platinum jewellery really what it’s said to be?” Maria looked at her blankly at first “Platinum? The spike in his tongue is made from gold,” and looked sideways at her fiancé before smiling back at Gina “and he shocks me with it every time,” and giggled. Moses pulled her into his embrace and kissed her and looked over her black curls straight into Gina’s eyes with a wink—and Gina knew…there was no dumbbell, and burst out laughing. When Julio turned to her to find out about the cause of her laugh, Maria came to her rescue “Have your tongue pierced, Julio, and you’ll find out.” Both bid their farewells and left the party to return home and soon, Gina, Julio, her brother and Romano followed. Quietly, Julio drove home. Antonio had laid his head on Romano’s shoulder on the back seat and had his eyes closed. Moses and Maria had already retreated to their room by the time they arrived at the villa. Romano and Antonio didn’t stay up either and

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Toreador's Embrace after Julio had secured the door, he and Gina also went to their room. She was utterly exhausted and snuggled up to Julio and closed her eyes. He kissed her and pulled her close with his arms holding her safely. After a while Julio’s deep breathing told her that he was asleep. She couldn’t get comfortable and gingerly eased herself out of her lover’s embrace to try and relax. Her nerves were on edge and inwardly every one of her body’s fibres trembled. There was no way she could sleep and she got up and tiptoed back downstairs, to pour herself a cool drink from the bar. The house was quiet. There wasn’t a sound from any of the other’s bedrooms. A smile eased onto her face as she thought of her new family that kept growing. She wondered how many more members she would get to know. The full moon sent its silvery streaks of light through the windows, creating shadows in the most abstract designs. Without warning, one such shadow moved and before she could react, a hand clamped shut over her mouth. Her nightmare had come to life. She struggled trying free herself. The other hand reached for her throat but couldn’t get a firm hold because she would have slipped out of his grip and tried to scream. She hit out at the assailant’s face and caused him to turn away so she couldn’t reach and as he moved, the moonlight fell on his gaunt face and the grey, straggly hair. In an instant she recognised the demonic priest from her flight to Madrid and with that, had the most terrifying realisation of her life—that this was her nightmare’s monster, J.W. Forbes—her own father

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J.J. Doulton was about to kill her because she hadn’t been born a son. “You don’t think I'd let you ruin what’s taken me a lifetime to build, do you?” He hissed into her ear. “I ought to burn you at the cross, my child. Telephones are such helpful tools, aren’t they? Especially yours. How many of your hot little calls to this Spanish hombre do you think I’ve listened to?” He suppressed the urge to laugh out loud but instead pressed down harder on her face. “Your mother was one of them— hot-blooded Spanish woman, couldn’t even give me a son.” Almost paralysed with fear, she tried to kick, punch him and fend him off but she felt her strength drain away, as he had a firm grip on her face. She was unable to breathe. Her lungs screamed out for air and she desperately tried to suck in any little bit she could manage between the steel-vice fingers, but to no avail. Her head began to throb and swell, her eyes wanted to pop out of their sockets and a dark red cloud moved in from the periphery of her view and she knew she was suffocating. She watched herself going limp in his hands as she slipped out of his grip, and was mesmerized by the silvery chord that trailed from her down to her lifeless body while she floated at ceiling height above the scene. As she looked down, a dark-haired woman appeared next to her own limp figure and pointed her outstretched arm directly at her monster’s chest. She recognised the same woman that she had met three times that night on her way home. Carmen had come to claim her rightful restitution and with that her freedom to go

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Toreador's Embrace home to the light. Gina watched the monster clutch his chest and stagger backward, trying to find something to hold onto and finally crash to the floor together with the small table next to him and the tray of glasses that had rested on its surface. Carmen looked up at her and smiled, then reached out, offering her a hand and Gina reached for it. Gently and slowly, Carmen pulled her back to the ground where her body lay and stroked her face. “Gina! Gina!” She felt his lips on hers and his breath forcing its way into her lungs. She shook and with one painful gasp opened her eyes. Julio looked down at her. “She’s come round.” Moses relieved voice said. She tried to look around but her body wasn’t obeying her readily. “He’s dead.” Julio answered her silent question. “Heart attack. The crash of the table woke us.” “Carmen…” “Shh…try not to speak. Try not to move. The ambulance is on its way. We better have you checked out in hospital. We don’t want to take any risks.” Slowly her arms regained some mobility and she groped for Julio’s hand. He grabbed hers and put it to his lips. “It’s all over now, my love.” She heard Moses in the background talking on the phone and found the strength to warn Julio, “My phone…is tapped.” Immediately, Julio motioned to Moses what Gina had just told him. Moses carried on the conversation as if nothing was wrong, but managed to change the subject and inquire about the

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J.J. Doulton welfare of his dog and something about making sure that he was not let off the leash. She never knew that Moses had a dog. “Is there another phone that I can use?” Moses asked the others who did their best to keep Gina comfortable. “Mine is in the glove box, but it's an IME phone and possibly tapped, too.” Julio replied. “Try this one, its old but you should get coverage here.” Antonio reached for his own in his jacket that hung on one of the chairs, but the battery didn’t have enough charge. Moses grabbed the keys to the Ferrari and informed the others that he’d try to get to higher ground toward San Pedro to get coverage for his own and left. As he drove off, the ambulance arrived and Gina was tightly bundled on the stretcher with her neck in a brace and, with Julio accompanying her, driven as slowly as possible to the hospital in Aldorra. Luckily, other than shock and a badly bruised face, she hadn’t sustained any other injuries.

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Epilogue

S

ince the announcement of the double wedding, Ria had taken on the role of token mother to both Gina and Maria and was rushed off her feet, by choice, organising the dresses, flowers and food, invitations, decorations and most everything else, and Juan found himself being delegated to running countless errands beside helping Eduardo organise the Hacienda into a wedding venue. Gina knew she wouldn’t have it any other way, not having been blessed with a daughter of her own and quietly enjoyed being spoilt with Ria’s loving affection. Old fashioned Ria had managed to rescue a modicum of tradition by separating both couples for the last night before their wedding, attending to the women at Gina’s villa while the men were entertained by Eduardo at the hacienda. During the morning, car after car arrived at the villa: hairdressers, florists and beauticians with the sole purpose to prepare the brides for the altar. There was not much time for the usual midday siesta. Both wedding dresses were made from silk satin and lace, different in cut and shape but complementing each other beautifully. The copious

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J.J. Doulton lace sensually draped over and accentuated the lush curves of Moses’ black-haired Spanish beauty whose dark skin shone even darker against the white gown with its deep cleavage; the same lace gracefully revealed the lithe figure of Julio’s ‘spoilt American blonde’ with its low-cut back and the daring, revealing slit to one side, allowing glimpses of her shapely legs. The design of the rich red embroidery adorning the rim of the dresses also edged the flowing lines of the fine tulle veils cascading into a train from their identical tiaras that formed part of the crown of flowers in their hair. Both bridal bouquets consisted of blood-red roses in the pavé arrangement together with white, scented Stephanotis, the Madagascar Jasmine, and a simple wide satin ribbon in a deep red matching that of the roses. Right on schedule, in the late afternoon, the decorated white Mercedes stretch limousine, driven by an impeccably dressed chauffeur, made its way slowly toward the hacienda with its precious cargo. The brides in the back seat held hands under the layers of carefully folded white lace, reassuring each other that this was really happening. The maids of honour, Louisa and Margarita, both wearing a straight-cut, off-the-shoulder dress in a lighter shade of red, sat in the seat facing the brides. They were followed by a second white Mercedes carrying Ria and Carmella, her sister. Gina’s thoughts wandered quietly back to a sadder reality for one last time, to reflect on what could have been before finally cutting loose a past that wasn’t hers any longer and then

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Toreador's Embrace looking into a future that stood before her so clearly she thought she was going to burst with happiness. She looked at Maria and detected one single tear in the corner of her eye; it seemed her new sister was on a similar path of healing. As they headed toward the decorated gates, fragments of guitar music, carried on the light breeze, greeted them. Once they passed the large oak trees, the entire al fresco chapel opened up to them. Like Eduardo had promised, the Mendez hacienda, the Ganaderia Toros De Magia Negra, had been turned into a giant reception venue. It wasn’t a quiet affair— not with almost all of San Pedro having been invited. The huge courtyard of the hacienda was filled with people dressed in traditional Spanish outfits, many faces Gina recognised, most she didn’t. The white Mercedes stopped where Eduardo halted it. He and Juan stepped closer to open Gina and Maria’s door and assist the ladies to alight from the vehicle. In step, Juan led Gina down the aisle, side by side with Maria on Eduardo’s arm. Gina’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Julio waiting for her at the altar, next to him, Moses, waiting for his love. Both men wore a traditional black tuxedo and white shirt with red trims on a single light row of ruffles, matching the colour in the roses of their boutonniere that was framed by a narrow red silken ribbon. The same boutonniere decorated the plain dark-grey suits of the best men. Gina heard the clicking of cameras and looked around; photographers mingled with the guests, catching images for the socialite pages of their

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J.J. Doulton respective papers. News travelled fast and a double wedding at Mendez’s Magia Negra was certainly worth a few rolls of film…and not a single representative of Forbes Media in attendance. She smiled. After Moses’ investigations culminated in the arrest of two members of the board, and after the revelation of her extended family to those in positions upholding J.W. Forbes’ last will and testament, the entire pyramid of power crumbled and she dismissed every single one of them, pending re-organisation of the Forbes empire after her wedding. She intended a name change at the very least with I.M.E. attaining a controlling interest…but that was a few honeymoon weeks away yet. The lone guitar player’s tune accompanied their slow walk along the flower petal covered aisle that was delineated by the guests on either side with the torches already lit. Gina and Maria approached the altar together, followed by Louisa and Margarita. Two brides joined their lovers. Julio and Moses stood, together with the Padre from San Tomaso in Aldorra, Antonio and Romano, awaiting them. Eduardo handed Maria to Moses while Juan handed Gina to Julio. “Buenos días. I love you.” Julio moved close and whispered in her ear. “I love you,” She whispered back. The voice of the Padre commenced the ceremony and Gina’s complete attention was focused on his words and the face of the man she loved next to her. Obediently she repeated the words of the Padre and upon his cue, Romano handed Julio the rings: two

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Toreador's Embrace simple bands of gold. Then she listened as Maria and Moses exchanged their vows, speaking after the Padre who then prompted Antonio to hand the rings to Moses, repeating the same melodically spoken request. After stepping back and looking at the four lovers with a pause that marked the importance of the occasion he pronounced both couples husband and wife. “And now you may kiss the bride.” During the kiss, which lasted just a fraction too long to be traditional, familiar guitar harmonies sounded across the hacienda and the voice of a singer dressed the composition with his verse. The wedding guests showered the newlyweds with rice and confetti and, as if running the gauntlet, the grooms sheltered their brides and quickly walked with them through the deluge of well wishes only to emerge at the other end of the aisle covered in white specks. “The bouquets.” Gina nudged Maria and both women turned their back to the waiting crowd and threw their bunches of red roses into the air behind them. When they looked again they witnessed people’s arms in the air jostling to catch the bouquets amidst shrieks of excitement. Then a couple of victory shouts by two happy women who caught the flowers ended the spectacle just as swiftly as it began a few seconds earlier. Gina spotted Louisa proudly holding up her catch and further back she saw Carmella clutching the other bridal bouquet. Quickly Gina looked over to Eduardo, who had a grin from ear to ear after witnessing Carmella’s blushing cheeks. Gradually the wedding party grouped for the wedding photographs, and Gina couldn’t help but

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J.J. Doulton count the people she could call her family now. Apart from Julio, there were Maria and Antonio, Moses and of course Eduardo, Ria and Juan, a total of seven people replaced one previously large and empty space. Then there were Romano, Louisa and Margarita, her dearest friends and confidantes. The guitar music kept playing and she was swept into the festive stream, celebrating her new life. The rest of the evening was but a blur for Gina as the champagne made her light-headed and all she had eyes for was Julio, by her side through a banquet of fantastic food, drinks, music and countless well wishes. She remembered dancing with her new husband, floating on cloud nine, not touching terra firma and looking forward to her wedding night when he held her tight and led her through the tango, thigh on thigh. Midnight approached. Moses and Maria had an early start to their honeymoon the next morning and left in the red machine that Julio had handed them as a wedding present, just like Gina knew he would. The jet was waiting on the airstrip to take them to their destination after the wedding night. Gina and Julio slipped away unseen and drove down to the beach, discarded their clothes and swam out in the silvery light of the moon to the old landing. Secretly, Julio had arranged for its repairs, but it had not been altered and the old post still leaned out over the water. Julio helped Gina onto the new steps and made sure she didn’t slip. Slowly his hands took possession of her body and his erection eagerly waited for her; the explosion in her belly sent a rush of blood into the

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Toreador's Embrace soft flesh between her legs and the sweet pain of arousal took hold of her. Slowly, gently he laid his bride against the pole and let himself slip inside her, holding her safely in his arms as she called his name, and together they flew into their wedding night.

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